Two years of complaints, she says - then a denied allegation and a firing
A former PepsiCo coordinator alleges the company failed to stop repeated anti-gay harassment and then fired her weeks after she returned from family leave.
The worker sued PepsiCo, Inc. on July 24, 2026, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, bringing claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Family and Medical Leave Act. The complaint describes her as a gay man who uses female pronouns and says she worked as a coordinator managing warehouse operations and logistics from May 2022 until her termination.
According to the filing, the harassment ran from about October 2023 through November 2025. The complaint alleges a co-worker refused a work assignment and said he "can't stand gay people." It says another told her that to speak to men she "needed to use a deeper voice," and that two others said they would not share a restroom with her, referring to her with a homophobic slur. The filing further alleges that a co-worker said he "did not like gay people like you" before removing his safety vest in what she took as a move to fight, and that another co-worker later used a homophobic slur.
The complaint says she reported the incidents repeatedly - to her manager, to PepsiCo's human resources department, and to the company's hotline - but that no meaningful corrective action followed and she continued working alongside the same people.
The termination sits at the center of the case. The filing says she took approved FMLA leave in November 2025 to care for her husband. During that leave, it alleges, human resources contacted her about a claim that she had touched a co-worker's cheek or blown him a kiss at a meeting in October, which she denied. According to the complaint, she was not re-interviewed and, to her knowledge, no further investigation was conducted. She returned in early December 2025 and, per the filing, worked without incident through December 29. On December 30, 2025, the complaint says, her manager called and read from a letter stating she was being terminated for allegedly harassing an employee.
The complaint alleges that basis was false and pretextual, that the accusation surfaced only after her FMLA leave and her discrimination complaints, and that the company assessed accusations differently depending on who was accused. It contends the company had actual knowledge of the alleged harassment but did not take effective action to stop it.
The suit brings three counts: hostile work environment and discrimination under Title VII, retaliation under Title VII, and retaliation under the FMLA. It seeks lost wages and benefits, compensatory and punitive damages, and, on the FMLA count, liquidated damages. The accompanying civil cover sheet states a demand of $150,000.
For HR readers, the case turns on two familiar pressure points: how an employer documents and acts on repeated harassment complaints routed through a manager, HR, and a hotline, and how closely a termination is scrutinized when it lands just after protected complaints and protected leave.
The allegations have not been tested in court. PepsiCo has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled on the claims.
