EEOC Charge alleges COSTCO Vice President Paul Pulver failed to stop racial harassment

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costco-300x169These facts are taken from the EEOC Charge against COSTCO. The victim and harasser’s names have been changed. For many years, “Jay,” a Costco Wholesale employee in Newport News, Virginia, endured racial harassment from his coworker, “Sharon.” Jay is Egyptian. Sharon regularly mocked his accent, made derogatory gestures suggesting he had a bad smell, sprayed Lysol toward him, and encouraged coworkers to ridicule him, because of his race, national origin and ethnicity. Despite repeatedly reporting these incidents to management for many years the harassment continued.

When he complained to his Front-End Manager on September 20, 2023, the Manager replied that she “can’t force employees to respect” him. An Operations Manager later acknowledged the harassment, but rather than helping to end it, suggested that Jay transfer to another warehouse for a “fresh start.”

On October 11, 2024 Jay escalated his concerns to the Store Manager who responded by saying there’s “something to earning an employee’s respect.” Even after bringing the issues to Costco Vice President Paul Pulver in mid-October 2024 the harassment continued. 

Jay reported further incidents, including aggressive mocking of his accent on November 22, 2024, and offensive gestures regarding his “smell” as recently as January 8, 2025. Despite additional complaints to Human Resources and Vice President Pulver in January 2025, Sharon continued to harass Jay through February.

Jay is seeking additional evidence of harassment or discrimination at COSTCO. Please feel free to call us at 212-308-4338, email attorney@employmentlawfirmpc.com or fill out a form on our website.

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