A Long Island, NY, Walmart worker claims his female boss bombarded him with nude photos and sexually explicit text messages — and even tried to assault him in a car — before helping orchestrate a years-long retaliation campaign that ended with his firing, according to a federal lawsuit.
Shawn White, a former team lead at Walmart stores in Uniondale and Valley Stream, accused the company of sexual harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination in a suit filed May 6 in Brooklyn federal court.
“We do not tolerate harassment or retaliation of any kind,” a Walmart spokesperson told The Post. “We are reviewing the complaint and will respond appropriately to the Court.”
The lawsuit centers on allegations against Robin Ford, a supervisor who began pursuing White shortly after he joined Walmart as a sales associate in 2019, according to his suit.
Ford allegedly sent White naked photos of herself and sexually suggestive messages inviting him to “come over to my house” and “go out to eat.”
White claims the situation escalated dramatically in August 2019.
During a ride home from a gathering attended by coworkers, Ford allegedly “jumped on top of” him and attempted to sexually assault him while his brother sat in the vehicle and witnessed the incident, the suit states. White says he physically resisted.
The complaint alleges Ford later mocked him in a text message to another employee, writing, “Omg why [did White] throw his hands up when I got on top of him omg I can’t lol.”
The alleged harassment continued for years, according to the filing.
White claims Ford sent messages stating, “I got eyes everywhere watching” and, “when you come back we are having sex.” White repeatedly rejected the advances and never encouraged the conduct, according to the suit.
It states Ford became angry after White rebuffed her and told him she had never been “turned down by a guy.”
After high-ups allegedly ignored his complaints, White was promoted to team lead and transferred to work at a Valley Stream Walmart in 2021. But six months later, to his dismay, Ford started working there, and the harassment allegedly continued.
“I do not feel comfertable [sic] and I dont feel like im safe or my job is safe,” White emailed supervisors at the time, according to the suit.
However, instead of being helped, White received disciplinary write-ups and got suspended, the complaint states. He was even fired in 2022 but got reinstated about a month later after he challenged the termination as retaliatory, according to the suit.
White says he reported Ford’s ongoing conduct through Walmart’s Ethics Portal and directly to managers, but received little or no response. Emails shared with The Post show he was still escalating complaints to management in early 2023, months before his firing.
In a January 2023 message to Valley Stream store manager Jared Carpenter and several other Walmart supervisors, White wrote that he “wasn’t comfortable working with” Ford, said he feared losing his job and stated that he did not feel safe around her.
“This has been going on, on and off even when I was working at the Uniondale location all because I dont want to pursue a romantic relationship with her,” White wrote.
He also stated that “The management team knows and no one is doing anything about it” — but claims Carpenter told him he could either continue working or “go home for the day.”
After that incident, the lawsuit states Ford began filing false complaints about White’s performance, accusing him of incomplete work and portraying him as a poor employee despite positive evaluations and promotions.
White alleges the retaliation intensified after he continued reporting Ford’s conduct to management.
According to the complaint, management ignored repeated warnings that White felt uncomfortable working with Ford.
The suit also attributes a statement to Carpenter that White says reflected management’s attitude toward his complaints, citing it as evidence of alleged retaliation.
White claims Carpenter said: “It doesn’t matter how good he is, it only matters what is on paper.”
The lawsuit alleges the remark reflected an effort to build a record that could later be used to justify White’s dismissal.
White also claims Edward Gregorek, who held the title of market manager, dismissed his complaints during a March 2023 meeting.
According to the lawsuit, Gregorek told him: “Shawn, you are the problem.”
Gregorek also allegedly warned that there were “lawyers involved” and that “people could potentially be losing their jobs” because of White’s complaints.
White says he continued reporting the alleged harassment and retaliation through early 2023.
On June 8 of that year, Walmart fired him.
According to the complaint, management told White he was being fired for falsifying time records and poor job performance.
White contends those reasons were just a pretext and that he was actually axed because of his complaints about sexual harassment and retaliation.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, lost wages, emotional distress damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other relief.
Walmart had not responded to the allegations in the complaint as of the filing. The Post has sought comment from Carpenter, Gregorek and Ford.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
