Former sales manager claims he warned HR twice before the company fired him
Red Bull faces a federal race discrimination lawsuit after a former sales manager says HR brushed off his repeated complaints about racial bias.
Jywaun Williams, an African American former Account Sales Manager at Red Bull Distribution Company in Erie, Pennsylvania, filed suit on February 15 in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleging he was fired because of his race and because he spoke up about it.
Williams worked for Red Bull from late 2023 until May 30, 2025. He started as a merchandiser, moved up to sales trainee and was promoted to Account Sales Manager around March 2024. By all accounts in the filing, he was a competent, satisfactory employee.
The trouble, according to Williams, began shortly after his promotion. During a ride-along, his supervisor, District Sales Manager Jesse Young, called him "boy." Williams asked Young not to use the term, explaining that he found it offensive. Young apologized, but Williams says it was clear his supervisor was not pleased about being corrected.
From that point on, Williams alleges, Young's behavior toward him shifted. Conversations became strictly transactional. Questions were met with sarcasm. Meanwhile, Williams says, white Account Sales Managers received a warmer, more helpful version of the same supervisor. When Williams later confronted Young about the disparity, Young allegedly explained that he treated white colleagues differently because "the other guys and I have so much more in common."
Williams says he raised the issue with human resources twice. After the first call, around late December 2024 or early January 2025, the HR representative he spoke with responded, "I don't know that I would go that far," but promised to look into it. Williams called HR again on May 7, 2025, the same day Young warned him that one more late arrival would cost him his job.
The attendance issue itself had a complicated backstory. During an ice storm in January 2025, Young insisted Williams come in. Williams had an accident on the way that badly damaged his vehicle, rendering it inoperable. For weeks afterward, he cycled through borrowed vehicles, rentals and eventually Ubers to make it to work. He warned Young that ride-share delays might cause occasional tardiness. What followed, Williams says, was a no-win cycle: Young told him to call if he would be late, then complained about the calls; told him to text instead, then said he did not always read texts. White colleagues, Williams alleges, were not tracked with the same rigor.
After the May 7 warning, Williams had an accident on his route that same day and was off work through May 27 recovering from injuries. On May 30, he was called into a meeting with Young, two other managers and an HR representative on the phone. He was told he was being terminated for tardiness. Williams pushed back, pointing out that Young's warning applied to lateness after May 7 and that he had not been late once since then. His objections were overruled.
The lawsuit brings claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging race discrimination and retaliation for reporting it. Williams is also expected to add claims under Pennsylvania state law. No determination on the merits has been made and the case remains in its earliest stage. Red Bull has not yet responded to the filing.
