Her formal complaint went in on a Tuesday - the write-up came on Wednesday
A Toyota warehouse worker alleges racial slurs, sexual harassment, and retaliation spanning two decades at an Illinois parts distribution center.
The worker filed suit against Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. on November 4, 2026, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint brings claims of race and sex discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Section 1981. The worker started as a warehouse associate at Toyota's Chicago Parts Distribution Center in Aurora, Illinois, on June 10, 2004. She was the only African American woman in her department, the complaint states.
Twenty years of "lazy" and "Black girl"
According to the filing, the racial comments began on the worker's very first day, when a coworker expressed surprise at seeing a Black woman at the facility and stated that she believed Black people "live off the government." Over the course of her employment, the complaint alleges, coworkers made statements including "Blacks are lazy," "Black women rely on the government financially," and "Did you have kids at 14?"
Between 2015 and 2017, while the worker held a sizing specialist role, coworkers questioned why a "Black girl" was performing sizing work and stated they were "smarter than the Black girl," the complaint alleges. On one occasion, her chair was taken away after coworkers complained she was "lazy." The complaint also alleges unwelcome sexual conduct by male employees, including unwelcome advances, unsolicited photographs of their homes, and requests for dates.
Around 2016 or 2017, a new production manager took over the first shift and, the complaint alleges, the harassment intensified. In 2017, he removed the worker from her sizing position. In 2019, when she applied for an open specialist role, the manager selected a Hispanic woman instead despite the worker's qualifications, according to the filing. Management knew about the conduct and failed to take effective action to stop it, the complaint states.
A complaint on Tuesday, a write-up on Wednesday
On April 1, 2025, the worker used the facility's public-address system to call an employee to a work area. Coworkers alleged she used inappropriate language - claiming she told the employee to get his "ass" to the BIN section. The worker denies making the statement, the complaint states.
On April 8, 2025 - a Tuesday - the worker handed the production manager a written response denying the allegation and, in the same document, formally reported race discrimination, sex discrimination, and sexual harassment, identifying specific employees she believed had engaged in the conduct. The very next day, April 9, she received her first written disciplinary action based on the disputed PA-system allegation. According to the complaint, the allegation was false and the discipline was retaliatory.
Around April 15, the worker discovered a cord on her machine had been cut, creating a safety hazard, the complaint alleges. She reported it to management and later to an HR representative. According to the filing, neither investigated. During June and July 2025, the complaint states, there were additional attempts to discipline the worker on what the filing calls false accusations, but witnesses corroborated her account and the proposed discipline did not proceed.
Bathroom breaks, work codes, and an improvement plan
On January 23, 2026, the worker received a second written disciplinary action alleging excessive bathroom breaks and failure to perform her duties. The complaint calls the accusations unfounded, stating the worker has medical conditions - hyperthyroidism, Graves' disease, and anemia - that require bathroom breaks, and that Toyota knew of her conditions and did not reasonably accommodate them.
Six days later, on January 29, the worker submitted a mediation request to human resources. According to the filing, she reported that a coworker had changed her work code without her knowledge, that her supervisor and that coworker were reassigning her work, and that both "perpetuated the stereotype of her as a 'lazy, Black woman.'"
The worker was then placed on an "Improvement Plan" requiring twice-daily check-ins with her supervisor, the complaint states. According to the filing, the plan was retaliatory and "intended to create a pretextual record to justify further adverse employment action, including termination." The worker repeatedly complained about harassment and retaliation, the complaint alleges, but management and human resources failed to take effective remedial action.
For HR teams, this complaint zeroes in on a pattern employers should be ready to defend: what happens when a formal discrimination complaint arrives and discipline follows within 24 hours, and when accommodation requests and internal mediation go unanswered.
The allegations in this complaint have not been tested, and no court has made any findings or rulings on the merits.
