Did Supervisor’s Text, Comments Show Walmart Manager Lost Job due to Retaliation?

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Boothwyn, PA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Comments and texts from supervisors can sometimes support an employee’s claim of retaliation. But as a case involving a Walmart store manager shows, the employee still needs to show she suffered an adverse employment action. 

The assistant manager worked for Walmart starting in 2012 and suffered pelvic injuries in 2018. After she was injured, she said, she leaned on counters or stacks of boxes as she tried to take pressure off her hip. She claimed that her supervisors, seeing this, remarked "you still got to get things done" and it was "not a good look for our customers." She also claimed that supervisors would often assign her additional work.

She accepted a job offer from Giant Food Stores on Aug. 31, 2019, gave her notice to Walmart on October 8, and began working for Giant two days later.

On October 21, the following text exchange occurred between the employee and her former Walmart store manager:

Claiming she was terminated by Walmart because of her injuries, the employee sued for FMLA and ADA retaliation, and the court granted judgment to Walmart.

On appeal, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated that, to establish retaliation, an employee must first show:

1) That she engaged in protected employee activity;
2) An adverse action by the employer either after or contemporaneous with the employee's protected activity; and
3) A causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse action. 

Did the employee establish a retaliation claim?

A. Yes. The comments and text of supervisors indicated that they fired her, which as an adverse action for purposes of retaliation.

B. No. She already had a job lined up before she separated from Walmart.

If you selected B, you agreed with the court in McLaughlin v. Walmart, No. 23-3201 (3d Cir. 12/03/24, unpublished), which held that the employee failed to show that she suffered any adverse employment action.

The employee, the court noted, voluntarily resigned. This was evidenced by her resignation notice, and the fact that she received and accepted a job offer from another company.

The court acknowledged the employee’s argument that her manager’s texting of the word “Health” was sufficient evidence that she was terminated because of her pelvic condition. Her supervisors, however, said she left of her own accord. Her supervisors documented and apparently believed that she voluntarily resigned due to health concerns.

“[The employee’s] subjective belief that she was terminated, without more, is insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact to defeat summary judgment,” the court wrote.

It affirmed the District Court’s ruling in Walmart’s favor.

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