A former Kohl’s employee claims she was discriminated against when her employer challenged her medical leave and denied her promotion opportunities.
Sheree Williams filed the complaint on Jan. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Kohl’s Department Stores Inc. and Kohl’s Inc.
According to the complaint, Williams is an African American woman who began working for the defendants on Oct. 23, 2013. Her most recent position was a sales lead at the Mount Vernon store. Williams claims she “performed the duties of her jobs to all legitimate expectations during her employment with defendants.”
Williams claims she endured discrimination due to her race and alleged disabilities, including severe anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The suit states that the assistant manager referred to the plaintiff’s children as “drug dealers” in front of other employees in June 2017. Williams reported the comment to the store manager at the time, but she claims no action was taken to remedy the situation. Following the incident, Williams claims the assistant manager retaliated by yelling at Williams, treating her with hostility and assigning tasks that were not normally performed by employees in her position.
Williams also alleges she was approved for intermittent leave as a reasonable accommodation for her disabilities in 2016, which allowed her to take one absence and up to four hours per week for medical appointments. She claims that when a new store manager took over in May 2018, she discriminated against the plaintiff by challenging the medical absences and denying the plaintiff promotion opportunities.
When Williams asked why she was not hired for a management position she had applied for, she was told that it was due to her absences, the suit states. She claims she was passed over for another management position in December 2018.
“During plaintiff’s employment with defendants and when plaintiff was terminated by defendants, she was subjected to discrimination and retaliation for engaging in a legally protected activity,” the suit states.
Then in January 2019, Williams claims she was reported to her caseworker for an unapproved absence when she suffered a panic attack and missed approximately an hour of work. However, she alleges a Caucasian employee was two hours late two work and was not written up.
“During plaintiff’s employment with defendants, she was subjected to racial discrimination in that there was a double standard between the treatment of African-American employees and non-African-American employees,” the suit states.
Williams alleges that after her medical absences continued to be challenged, she requested contact information for the regional manager in order to report the treatment on April 22, 2019. She was terminated from her employment the next day, the suit states.
“Defendants intentionally discriminated against plaintiff on the basis of her disabilities by refusing to honor approved accommodations for plaintiff’s disabilities, taking disciplinary action against her for the use of approved medical leave, and by terminating plaintiff’s employment due to her disabilities,” the suit states.
Williams seeks declaratory judgment “as to plaintiff’s right of a permanent injunction restraining defendants form maintaining a policy, practice, usage, or custom of discriminating against plaintiff because of her race with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, and/or privileges of employment, depriving plaintiff of equal employment opportunities and otherwise adversely affect her status as an employee, because of her disabilities,” the suit states. “This complaint also seeks restitution to plaintiff for the denial of all of her rights, privileges, benefits, and income that would have been received by her but for defendants’ unlawful and illegal discriminatory acts and practices.”
Williams also seeks unspecified compensation for all earnings, wages, bonuses, and other benefits she would have received, plus court costs and attorney’s fees.
She is represented by David Levin of the Law Offices of Todd Friedman PC in Chicago.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:21-cv-79