Cashier sues Sam’s Club, alleges supervisors laughed at harassment complaint

What happened next, if the allegations hold, may be the part of the story that keeps HR leaders up at night. 

In or around May 2024, Walton brought her concerns to her team lead supervisor, Ms. Grant, and the marketing manager, Ms. Davis. According to the filing, both women laughed. They told Walton that everyone was thinking the same thing about her and asked whether she was American — echoing the very remarks she had come to report. 

The company, which maintains a policy requiring that all harassment and discrimination complaints be investigated, allegedly never looked into Walton’s concerns. 

From there, the situation allegedly got worse. The discriminatory remarks became more frequent, at times daily. Walton says she was denied additional work hours, given incorrect attendance points that were never corrected even after she provided proof, and refused her lunch breaks while other employees took theirs. 

On October 4, 2024 — one year to the day after she was hired — Sam’s Club terminated Walton, citing missed product scans. The filing states that Ms. Davis claimed she had previously counseled Walton about the issue, but Walton says no such conversation ever took place. Tammy Bowman, described in the suit as a white female, delivered the news. According to the filing, Bowman was aware of the ongoing harassment but took no steps to intervene. A white person was subsequently hired to fill Walton’s position.