A Philadelphia man who claims he was terminated from a job at Wawa in retaliation for complaining about same-sex workplace harassment is striving for his case to reach a jury.
Bradley Davis of the Chinatown section worked as a customer service associate at a Wawa store on Columbus Boulevard in South Philadelphia, earning $15 an hour, according to court records.
Davis was hired on Aug. 9, 2022, and was fired on Sept. 24, 2022, allegedly due to retaliation for complaining about same-sex workplace harassment from his supervisor, according to his federal lawsuit.
However, Wawa maintains Davis was fired because he missed three shifts without getting excused absences.
Davis’ lawsuit stems from an event that occurred on Sept. 13, 2022. Davis and his supervisor were alone in the store’s walk-in freezer, stocking drinks. The supervisor allegedly told Davis that he would help him advance within the store — to a manager’s position or a cashier’s position — while he rubbed Davis’ chest, according to Davis’ deposition.
After rubbing Davis’ chest, the supervisor allegedly touched Davis’ “lower buttocks,” without Davis’ consent, after Davis bent over to shelve an item, according to court records.
When reporting the incident to a store manager, Davis said the supervisor “checked [my] oil,” which is a slang term for someone putting their fingers between the cheeks of another person’s buttocks.
For his part, the supervisor acknowledged touching Davis on his shoulder inside the freezer, but said it was done innocently to get Davis out of his way, according to court records.
“He [supervisor] claimed that he had to move past [Davis] and just put an arm on his shoulder while he went past him, and that was the entire, you know, situation,” a Wawa manager said in a deposition.
The supervisor no longer works at the store, according to court records.
Davis lodged an internal complaint about the incident, to no avail. There were no other persons in the freezer who witnessed the incident, and after a thorough investigation, the supervisor wasn’t disciplined, according to defense papers.
“Despite lodging a formal complaint about the sexual harassment and assault, Wawa failed to take appropriate action to address the matter. Instead, Mr. Davis was met with indifference and neglect from his employer, exacerbating his distress and sense of vulnerability in the workplace,” according to Davis’ lawsuit.
Davis was fired on Sept. 24, 2022, allegedly for missing three shifts of work without excused absences. The official reason given for his termination was “job abandonment,” which rendered Davis ineligible to be rehired by Wawa for one year.
However, Davis denied abandoning his job. According to court records, he gave Wawa officials phone records and other evidence showing he had told managers he couldn’t work those shifts.
However, Wawa officials said the phone records provided by Davis couldn’t be authenticated.
“Information regarding who made these alleged phone calls, whether anyone answered these calls, the duration of the alleged calls, and the origins of these documents, was not provided,” according to defense papers.
When trying to get his job back, Davis conveyed to a Wawa investigator his struggle to recover from the alleged harassment.
“It scared the heck out of me,” Davis told the investigator. “I have not been feeling the same ever since.”
Davis added: “[The supervisor] touched me in my private parts. That is very inappropriate and I felt violated. He touched me twice in my private parts in one day.”
Nevertheless, Wawa declined to reinstate Davis.
On April 12, 2024, Davis filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia, alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation by Wawa. He’s seeking $250,000 in damages, according to court records.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Joshua D. Wolson and Davis wants his case heard by a jury.
On April 17, 2025, Wawa filed a motion for summary judgment, asking the judge to dismiss the case before it can reach a jury, due to insufficient evidence. In the filing, Wawa emphatically denied mistreating Davis or retaliating against him for complaining about sexual harassment.
Attorneys for Davis filed a reply brief on May 1, 2025, emphasizing that a jury should decide whether Davis was victimized by sexual harassment and fired because he complained about it, rather than because of wrongdoing on Davis’ part.
A decision by Wolson is expected within the next few months.
Neither side had a comment for this story.