Two supervisors allegedly echoed the very remarks she came to report
A Sam's Club cashier in Alabama says she was mocked for her faith, laughed at when she reported it, then fired.
Malayja Walton was hired at a Sam's Club store in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in October 2023. A Black woman who practices the Holiness Christian faith, Walton covers her hair and wears long skirts and modest clothing as part of her religious observance. It did not take long, according to a federal lawsuit filed on March 17, for co-workers to take notice — and, she says, to take aim.
In the suit (Walton v. Sam's East, Inc., Case No. 7:26-cv-00450-EGL, N.D. Ala.), Walton alleges that co-workers accused her of being Islamic and questioned whether she was American because of the way she dressed. One co-worker, Caroline Blair, allegedly told Walton she could not be Christian. A male colleague asked if she was American because she covered her hair. The comments, Walton says, were persistent and sometimes made in front of customers.
What happened next, if the allegations hold, may be the part of the story that keeps HR leaders up at night.
In or around May 2024, Walton brought her concerns to her team lead supervisor, Ms. Grant, and the marketing manager, Ms. Davis. According to the filing, both women laughed. They told Walton that everyone was thinking the same thing about her and asked whether she was American — echoing the very remarks she had come to report.
The company, which maintains a policy requiring that all harassment and discrimination complaints be investigated, allegedly never looked into Walton's concerns.
From there, the situation allegedly got worse. The discriminatory remarks became more frequent, at times daily. Walton says she was denied additional work hours, given incorrect attendance points that were never corrected even after she provided proof, and refused her lunch breaks while other employees took theirs.
On October 4, 2024 — one year to the day after she was hired — Sam's Club terminated Walton, citing missed product scans. The filing states that Ms. Davis claimed she had previously counseled Walton about the issue, but Walton says no such conversation ever took place. Tammy Bowman, described in the suit as a white female, delivered the news. According to the filing, Bowman was aware of the ongoing harassment but took no steps to intervene. A white person was subsequently hired to fill Walton's position.
The suit also alleges that Sam's Club failed to follow its own progressive discipline policy and did not adequately train employees on its antidiscrimination and antiharassment procedures.
Walton is seeking back pay, front pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive relief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. She has requested a jury trial.
Sam's Club has not yet responded to the allegations, and no determination has been made on the merits of the case.
