A former Storm Lake Walmart employee is suing the multinational retailer for sexual harassment, employment discrimination and retaliation.
Alta’s Jamie Eale worked at Walmart for 16 years in a variety of departments from training to online grocery. According to a complaint filed Nov. 10 in Buena Vista County District Court, she alleges that managers at the Storm Lake Walmart fired her because of absenteeism related to her spinal condition. . According to her petition, a factor in her termination was that she reported sexual harassment by one of her supervisors. The company did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
On September 27, 2022, Mr. Yale was fired for “excessive absenteeism and exceeding the allowable number of attendance accrual points.” Walmart pointed to seven instances in which she took time off from her job. Five of those were related to her approved intermittent leave periods due to a spinal condition she was diagnosed with in April, her petition alleges.
“Jamie understood that her absence was excused because she had provided proper notice to her supervisor in accordance with Walmart policy,” the petition states.
Yale was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis. Spondylolisthesis is a disease in which a bone slides forward on the bone below it, causing severe pain in the lower back that radiates down the legs. She sought treatment for the disorder in April 2021 at South Dakota’s Neuroscience, Orthopedics and Spine Center.
She underwent spinal fusion surgery in August 2021 and took time off from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act until the end of January 2022. In May 2022, Walmart approved Ms. Yale’s request for accommodations for her disability, including intermittent leave. From May 2022 until September 2022, Ms. Yale was absent from her job due to recurring back pain. Her petition states that she had two frequent absences per month, each lasting two days.
Around this time, Ms. Yale reported an incident in which a co-worker allegedly claimed to have “seen a naked relative at her home.”
Mr. Eel later apologized to his colleagues. According to her petition, her co-worker responded to Yale with a request to “put on a show” for her co-worker’s husband.
“Jamie was disappointed by (his colleague’s) comments and said no,” the petition reads. “(Her co-workers) were persistent and her husband said she would be really happy if Jamie did a show for her.”
Yale claims she was fired after the company closed her sexual harassment complaint on September 22, 2022. Her colleagues are not named as defendants in the lawsuit. Yale reported the incident as sexual harassment in July, months before she was fired.
Yale asked the jury to award damages to Walmart for emotional distress, lost wages and other employee benefits. She is seeking compensation for her injuries and damages, as well as her attorney’s fees and litigation costs.
Walmart has not yet responded to the petition.