Walmart Stores Inc. and one of its managers are the target of an antibias lawsuit filed by a transgender former employee.
Samantha Azzarano, 27, of Gloucester City, claims she was wrongfully terminated from a Walmart store in Deptford, N.J., due to her transgender status. On Oct. 2, Azzarano filed suit against Walmart and Sheena Wyckoff in New Jersey Superior Court, seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
Azzarano worked at the store as a service associate from September 2012-December 2014. According to the suit, she got along well with coworkers until January 2014, when Wyckoff, a new manager, allegedly began to harass her. Wycoff allegedly yelled at Azzarano, unfairly reprimanded her, and referred to her as a “fucking tranny.”
Additionally, Wyckoff allegedly complained of having to “walk on eggshells” around Azzarano.
“The above described verbal abuse was because of — or caused by — the plaintiff’s transgender status, in that, other individuals who were not transgender were not subjected to the same treatment by Wyckoff,” Azzarano’s lawsuit states.
Azzarano reached out to upper management for relief from the alleged harassment and abuse, but her efforts were unavailing, according to the lawsuit.
On Dec. 29, 2014, Azzarano was terminated from employment at Walmart, allegedly due to her trans status.
“Any proffered reason by the defendants for the plaintiff’s termination would be pretext,” her lawsuit states.
A spokesperson for Walmart didn’t return a call seeking comment. Wyckoff couldn’t be reached for comment.
A jury trial has been requested, but it’s not expected to take place for about two years, said Kevin M. Costello, an attorney for Azzarano.
Costello expressed optimism about the case.
“We’re optimistic given what we know of the facts so far,” he said. “But the discovery process exists for a reason. And we’re looking forward to hearing what the other side has to say.”
He said the lawsuit has a potential to not only benefit Azzarano, but other Walmart employees as well.
“We’re seeking an instruction from the court that the defendant not engage in this type of discrimination again, and that they train their people better, to avoid this type of discrimination in the future,” Costello said.
He said Azzarano went through a “horrible experience,” largely due to the alleged conduct of Wyckoff.
“Ms. Wyckoff’s language was disgusting, transphobic, entirely out of bounds in the workplace and as demeaning as any sexist language or racist language,” Costello said. “Ms. Wyckoff had a problem with the fact that Samantha was a trans person and she made Samantha suffer for it. Sometimes we don’t necessarily have any proof as to why a bigot does what they do. In this case, Ms. Wyckoff said some very transphobic things that give us a clear picture of why she was giving Samantha so much trouble.”
Jessica Levin is communications director for Making Change at Walmart, a group that seeks to improve working conditions at the retail chain.
“In the past five months, Walmart has been targeted with three antibias lawsuits,” Levin told PGN. “Two of them involve anti-LGBT bias. We’re running a campaign to make Walmart into a better employer. And we will not stop until that happens. Walmart is the nation’s largest private employer. And what they do matters to the rest of the nation’s retail industry. So we’ll be watching this [Azzarano] case closely.”
New Jersey is among 19 states that have statewide antibias protections for transgender workers. Washington, D.C., also has similar protections.