Thursday, October 1, 2026
A former Walmart team lead who worked at the company’s Uniondale and Valley Stream stores has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the company failed to protect him after he repeatedly reported workplace harassment at the Uniondale location and later retaliated against him by firing him.
Shawn White, 38, of the Hempstead area, who worked for Walmart from March 2019 until June 2023, filed the lawsuit May 6 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The complaint names Wal-Mart Stores East LP as the defendant, and alleges violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State Human Rights Law. The suit claims that Walmart failed to adequately investigate White’s complaints, failed to enforce its own workplace policies and ultimately retaliated against him for reporting alleged harassment.
“We do not comment on active litigation,” Walmart’s representation responded when asked for comment.
The lawsuit includes allegations against White’s former manager at the Uniondale location, Robin Ford, said to be in her 40s and a resident of Nassau County.
As of press time, the Herald was unable to locate Ford to request comment, and she is neither a defendant nor a plantiff in the case. White said his goal is not to focus on one individual, but rather on what he believes were systemic failures in Walmart’s reporting and investigation process.
“Ultimately, I just want Walmart to do better,” White said. “They have systems and things in place, or they claim to, but I wasn’t helped by that system.”
According to the complaint, White began working at Walmart’s Uniondale location in March 2019 as a sales associate. After taking part in a store remodeling project, he was promoted to department manager, and then promoted again in August 2021 to team lead and transferred to the Valley Stream store. There he supervised 50 to 60 associates and managed daily store operations. The lawsuit notes that White consistently received positive evaluations.
But shortly after White’s promotion in 2019, the complaint alleges, Ford, his direct supervisor at the time, began subjecting White to unwanted conduct, including sexually explicit text messages, unwelcome advances and repeated inappropriate comments. According to the suit, Ford allegedly attempted to sexually assault White during an encounter outside the Uniondale store in 2019.
“Sex harassment is, at its core, about an imbalance of power. It affects people of every sex and gender identity,” Jennifer Mondino, senior director of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund at the National Women’s Law Center, the defense fund providing legal and public relations support to White’s case, said in a statement. “Too often, men and people who don’t identify as women face additional stigma and disbelief when they come forward.
Mondino added, “Workers should never face retaliation for reporting abuse, and Walmart must answer when they fail to protect their workers.”
Rather than concentrating on the alleged harassment itself, the lawsuit argues that Walmart failed to respond appropriately after White repeatedly sought help through the company’s reporting channels.
White reported his concerns to supervisors, Walmart’s Ethics department and Associate Relations over several years, the lawsuit states. He claims that managers either failed to investigate his complaints or provided only limited responses, indicating that matters had been addressed without explaining how.
According to the lawsuit, White initially attempted to avoid further contact by transferring to another department, and later accepted a promotion at Walmart’s Valley Stream store. The complaint alleges, however, that Ford was subsequently transferred to the same location and allegedly attempted to defame his reputation at work.
According to White, he was later subjected to a series of disciplinary actions that he did not believe were justified. He said that some referred to incidents he could not identify, and that managers sometimes issued disciplinary actions without explaining when the alleged conduct had occurred.
The lawsuit alleges those disciplinary actions created a paper trail that was ultimately used to justify his termination. White also claims that he was initially terminated in May 2022 and later reinstated with back pay in June 2022, only to ultimately lose his job on June 8, 2023. According to the complaint, Walmart cited declining job performance and other reasons for his termination, while White alleges that those reasons were pretext for retaliation after he repeatedly reported alleged harassment.
White also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before his employment ended. In an interview with the Herald, he noted that employers are typically notified after an EEOC filing and said he questioned the timing of his termination, which occurred shortly afterward. The lawsuit alleges that Walmart retaliated against him for engaging in protected activity by reporting alleged workplace harassment.
Under Title VII, employees are protected from discrimination based on sex and from retaliation for reporting alleged unlawful workplace conduct. The New York State Human Rights Law provides similar protections, and requires employers to take appropriate action when harassment complaints are reported. White alleges that Walmart violated both laws by failing to adequately address his complaints, and by retaliating against him after he made them.
White told the Herald that losing his job affected nearly every aspect of his life. After more than four years with Walmart, he said, the loss of his income created financial hardship for his family, and made it difficult to secure new employment. He also said that leaving behind the team he supervised was one of the most difficult parts of the experience, and noted that several former coworkers remain in contact with him and have told him the workplace changed after his departure.
“I don’t think they looked at the impact that I also had on the fellow associates, and just creating a home for them to come in every day,” White said. “That’s just the kind of thing that I did; I tried to kind of create a community. I always believe that work will be hard, but it shouldn’t be stressful.”
White said he hoped his lawsuit would encourage employers to consistently enforce workplace reporting procedures, and give other employees confidence to speak up when they believe company policies are not being followed.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, lost wages and benefits, damages for emotional distress, attorneys’ fees and other relief. The case remains pending in federal court.
