A worker alleges his complaints went nowhere - until the company turned the discipline on him
A Walmart worker says the company ignored his sexual harassment reports for years, then fired him over a claim he says was false.
The lawsuit, filed May 12, 2026 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, accuses Walmart and four individuals - a co-worker, an asset protection coach, a store lead, and a store manager - of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation under Title VII and Ohio law.
Austin Louis began working at a Walmart in Cambridge, Ohio, in September 2021 as an online pickup and delivery associate. According to the complaint, the trouble started on July 12, 2022, when a male co-worker allegedly groped Louis at work. Louis says he reported it the same day to a store lead, Kelly Nutter, and to a coach.
The filing's account of what came next is what makes this an HR case rather than a one-off workplace incident. The complaint alleges Walmart did not interview Louis, did not interview the co-worker, did not interview witnesses, and did not collect a written statement from anyone. According to the filing, the co-worker, Kenyon McClain, received no verbal warning, no written warning, no suspension, no demotion - no discipline at all. Walmart has a sexual harassment policy and an investigation policy on paper, the complaint says. Neither was followed, Louis alleges.
The harassment did not stop, according to the filing. Louis alleges McClain kept making unwelcome sexual comments and having unwelcome physical contact with him, multiple times a week, creating what the complaint calls a hostile work environment. Louis says he reported it again. And again, he claims, Walmart did not interview, did not document, and did not discipline.
The story turns sharply on January 6, 2025. According to the complaint, an asset protection coach, Josh Eash, told Louis he was under investigation over a claim that he had bought alcohol for a minor. Walmart suspended him that day. Louis says the allegation was false. According to the filing, he told Eash on the spot that Walmart was disciplining him more harshly for an unproven allegation than it had ever disciplined McClain for sexual harassment.
On January 31, 2025, Walmart fired him. The store manager, Chad Mathers, and Nutter gave the alcohol allegation as the reason, the complaint says. Louis alleges Walmart skipped every step of its own progressive discipline policy, which begins with a verbal warning, and jumped straight to termination - something he says Walmart does not typically do over a single such allegation.
Louis claims the suspension and the firing were sex-based and retaliatory, and that he was targeted, the filing says, for reporting harassment and raising disparate treatment. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $25,000 per claim and a permanent injunction requiring Walmart to overhaul its complaint-handling, training, and supervisor accountability.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Walmart has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled.
