White peers got the flexibility he was denied, the executive claims, just weeks before his firing
A Black executive at global chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut says he was pushed out after asking for the same remote work flexibility his White colleagues already enjoyed.
Kyle Myers, who joined Barry Callebaut U.S.A. LLC in March 2025 as VP and Managing Director of Global Corporate Accounts, is suing the company and Natasha Chen, the president of its North American business, alleging race discrimination and retaliation. The lawsuit, Myers v. Barry Callebaut U.S.A. LLC, et al., No. 1:26-cv-02232, was filed on May 21, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
The package that drew him in was substantial: a $340,000 base salary, a 40 percent bonus target, a $40,000 signing bonus, long-term incentives, a car allowance and six months of severance if he was let go without cause. Myers, who is African American, says he disclosed early on that he planned to relocate from Boulder, Colorado, to Chicago, and the company agreed to a hybrid setup while he made the move. For a few months, he flew between the two cities during the workweek as required.
Then his personal life shifted. In May 2025, according to the filing, his wife told him she planned to file for divorce in Colorado, where custody proceedings for their young daughter would play out. Relocating to Chicago, he says, was no longer realistic.
When he asked HR for more remote flexibility in late June, Myers says the answer was no. According to the filing, an HR representative told him the role had to be in Chicago, that traveling from Colorado to see customers there could carry a "negative perception," and that the company "likely doesn't have a business license in Colorado." Myers later learned, the complaint says, that several senior White employees, including current and former vice presidents, worked remotely, had their flights into Chicago reimbursed and benefited from company-funded relocations.
This is where the story turns into a cautionary tale for HR leaders. After 18 days without a response, Myers says he filed a formal grievance with Chen on July 14, 2025. The next day, his daughter was hospitalized after a seizure. Three days later, what was supposed to be his 90-day check-in turned, he alleges, into a meeting where an HR business partner repeatedly pressed him to discuss his discrimination complaint with his supervisor in the room. Myers says he objected that his complaint was being used to evaluate his performance.
He alleges he was then told he should have raised the issue with Chen directly rather than filing formally, and offered a choice: extend his hybrid arrangement for three months while moving to Chicago, or come back with other "amicable solutions." Soon after retaining a lawyer, he was placed on administrative leave on July 29, 2025, and terminated on August 8, 2025. The reason given, according to the filing, was his inability to work onsite in Chicago. Myers claims the company never investigated his discrimination complaint.
The allegations have not been tested in court, Barry Callebaut has not yet filed a response, and no ruling has been issued.
