Her final paycheck was already prepared when she walked into the termination meeting, she alleges
A Walmart employee says she was terminated hours after emailing HR about unfair treatment, capping what she describes as months of ignored complaints.
Elisa Bandi filed a federal lawsuit against Walmart Inc. on October 29, 2025, in the Northern District of Texas, alleging the retail giant retaliated against her for raising concerns about disability accommodation failures, workplace harassment, and what she characterizes as questionable investigations.
The case centers on events that unfolded on October 28, 2025. That morning, Bandi sent an email to HR and several managers about what she called a baseless investigation from six days earlier involving the word hippopotamus. In her message, she described feeling treated like a criminal, objected to being pressured into signing a statement, and demanded transparency about accusations she said were never properly explained to her.
Later that same day, she was called into a meeting with Manager Matthew Rogan and HR. The investigation was closed, they told her. She was being terminated. No specific reason was given, according to her filing.
What happened next struck Bandi as suspicious. Walmart handed her a final paycheck and a complete benefits and workers' compensation packet, then asked her to sign an acknowledgment of payment. She refused. Under Texas law, employers have up to six days to provide final wages after termination. The fact that everything was already prepared at the moment of termination suggested the decision had been made well in advance, she argues.
The termination came after what Bandi describes as a difficult period at the Carrollton, Texas pharmacy where she worked. On June 18, 2025, she says she sustained a heel contusion caused by HR Manager Tiffany Crawford. Her doctor restricted her from driving between June 24 and August 1. She provided medical documentation to Managers Peggy and Gayle and submitted it to Sedgwick, Walmart's third-party leave administrator, which approved the time off.
But her direct supervisors didn't seem to get the message. Despite Sedgwick's approval, Manager Gayle imposed twelve attendance points against her for the medically necessary absences. When Bandi asked for the points to be removed, Gayle ignored the requests and dismissed the medical documentation as irrelevant, she says. The situation left her without income for over forty days.
Walmart's own Appeals Committee later acknowledged the failure, according to Bandi's filing. In a decision dated October 16, 2025, the committee confirmed she had suffered a workplace injury on June 18, 2025, and that Walmart failed to accommodate her medical restriction of no driving. The committee admitted that neither the plan administrator nor Walmart provided transportation or proper written communication, resulting in her being unable to work. As a result, Walmart was required to pay ninety percent of her lost wages between June 25 and July 31, 2025.
The accommodation problems didn't stop there. On October 14, 2025, Bandi was treated at Parkland Hospital emergency department for a wasp sting that caused swelling in her hand and an allergic reaction. Her physician issued medical restrictions excusing her from work until October 15. She submitted the documentation to Manager Gayle and to Sedgwick by email on the same day. Sedgwick approved her medical leave for October 13 and 14. Manager Gayle still assessed her an attendance point for October 14. When Bandi pointed out on October 16 that she was ill, had submitted medical documentation, and that Sedgwick had approved her accommodation, Gayle responded that her medical documentation had nothing to do with her.
A similar situation arose when Bandi needed to take her daughter to a doctor's appointment. On October 7, she emailed Managers Gayle and Cruz Fria explaining that her daughter, who was suffering from depression and anxiety, had an appointment scheduled for October 9. She had only four hours of PPTO remaining and asked to be removed from the schedule to avoid getting another point.
Manager Cruz denied the request, instructed her to use her limited PPTO and call the Call Line, and emphasized that absences should be requested two weeks in advance. Bandi asked how she could possibly provide two weeks' notice when the appointment had only been scheduled that same day. She followed protocol anyway, calling the Call Line on October 8 to report the October 9 absence, but got the point anyway because she didn't have enough PPTO hours.
The filing also describes what Bandi characterizes as a pattern of baseless investigations. On October 22, she was approached aggressively at her workstation, forced to leave her duties immediately, and escorted to an office under circumstances that made her feel like a criminal or prisoner. The issue? She had asked a coworker the Spanish word for hippopotamus. She was interrogated about her intentions and whether the coworker felt uncomfortable, then pressured to sign a written statement under what she describes as coercive conditions. The next day, she checked with the coworker, Stella, who said she hadn't filed any complaint and was unaware of any accusation.
Nearly a year earlier, on October 29, 2024, Bandi says she was the subject of an even more serious false accusation. Coworker Lesley Mona Hernandez anonymously reported that Bandi had said something very bad would happen at Walmart on Friday. HR Manager Tiffany Crawford, Manager Michael, and Security Manager Jess launched an investigation. Another coworker, Binoy, signed a written statement confirming he never heard Bandi make such a comment. Still, Walmart protected Hernandez's identity, even knowing of previous conflicts between Hernandez and Bandi that she had reported, and refused to share the results of the investigation. The rumor was shared with colleagues and damaged her reputation in the workplace, she says.
Bandi also reported sexual harassment by coworker Demetrius Patterson. On June 10, 2025, she told HR he had repeatedly approached her workstation with inappropriate compliments and invitations to go out with him, despite knowing she was in a committed relationship. The situation escalated when he shared a disturbing dream in which the two of them were together in a car, fleeing from police after committing a crime, while she was looking at the police outside. She found it invasive, disturbing, and entirely inappropriate for the workplace.
HR Manager Tiffany Crawford said the issue would be transferred to Ethics, effectively refusing to conduct a direct investigation or provide protection, according to the filing. Walmart didn't initiate an investigation until June 27, 2025, when Workplace Investigator Jesse Hensley contacted her by email. She was never informed of the outcome or whether any corrective action was taken. Shortly after her complaint, Demetrius was publicly recognized by Walmart and named Employee of the Month. He continued approaching her workstation to use the printer located there, even though his own workstation had four printers available, including a personal printer assigned to him. Demetrius printed documents at her printer at least four times, creating what she describes as an intimidating and threatening presence.
Despite her repeated concerns, HR and management chose not to intervene or impose restrictions on his conduct following her sexual harassment complaint. She reported the matter to local police, but they failed to take appropriate action, minimizing the situation by stating her coworker was in love with her and wanted to date her, and concluding that no action would be taken because there had been no physical contact, she says.
Bandi, who describes herself as an immigrant with limited English proficiency, also alleges she was treated differently than her colleagues. When coworker Dinah frequently asked questions about the meaning of words in Spanish, she was never investigated or accused of misconduct. When Bandi asked colleague Stella how to say hippopotamus in Spanish, she was humiliated, forced into an interrogation, and pressured to sign a statement.
On February 13, 2025, Bandi formally reported the abusive conduct of coworker Cynthia Guzman, the same person who had previously falsely accused her of intentionally bumping into her in December 2024. She explained that the harassment was causing increased depression, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating, and that managers were not taking steps to curb the misconduct. Instead of investigating the behavior or providing support, Walmart disciplined her with a Yellow Coaching that didn't refer to misconduct but rather to her filing of protected reports about the harassment and its impact on her mental health, she alleges.
She's seeking back pay, front pay, compensatory and punitive damages, reinstatement or transfer, and attorneys' fees and costs. The amount in controversy exceeds seventy-five thousand dollars. The case remains in its early stages, with no court determination yet made on the merits of her claims.
