A clerk at a Wawa convenience store in the Philadelphia area has filed suit against the company, alleging
Bradley Davis, a former customer service associate at a Wawa in South Philadelphia, says he was fired after working just six weeks at the store in retaliation for complaining about the alleged same-sex harassment, according to his federal lawsuit.
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Wawa maintains Davis was fired because he missed three shifts without obtaining excused absences, Philadelphia Gay News reports.
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The suit stems from an incident on September 13, 2022, when Davis and his supervisor were stocking drinks in the store’s walk-in freezer. The suit maintains Davis’ supervisor told him he’d help Davis advance at the store to cashier or manager, all while rubbing his chest.
According to Davis’ deposition, after rubbing his chest, the supervisor moved to Davis’ “lower buttocks” as Davis bent over to shelve an item.
That’s when the supervisor “checked [my] oil,” as Davis reported the incident to a store manager. The term describes an individual putting their fingers between the cheeks of another person’s buttocks.
The supervisor acknowledged touching Davis inside the freezer — on his shoulder, he said — but claims it was done innocently to move Davis out of his path, according to court records.
“He claimed that he had to move past him and just put an arm on his shoulder while he went past him, and that was the entire, you know, situation,” a Wawa manager said in a deposition.
Davis lodged a complaint about the incident, but following an internal investigation, the supervisor wasn’t disciplined.
There were no other employees in the freezer to corroborate Davis’ account.
The supervisor no longer works at the South Philadelphia store.
“Despite lodging a formal complaint about the sexual harassment and assault, Wawa failed to take appropriate action to address the matter. Instead, Mr. Davis was met with indifference and neglect from his employer, exacerbating his distress and sense of vulnerability in the workplace,” lawyers for Davis said.
Davis was fired eleven days later.
Wawa maintains it was for “job abandonment,” after Davis missed three shifts at the store without notice. Davis countered with phone records that he said proved he notified management ahead of time. Wawa said the records couldn’t be authenticated.
“Information regarding who made these alleged phone calls, whether anyone answered these calls, the duration of the alleged calls, and the origins of these documents, was not provided,” according to Wawa’s defense.
Davis told an investigator for the company that the incident was traumatizing.
“It scared the heck out of me,” he said. “He touched me in my private parts. That is very inappropriate, and I felt violated. He touched me twice in my private parts in one day.”
Wawa declined to reinstate Davis and emphatically denies he was mistreated or retaliated against.
The former clerk is seeking a jury trial and $250,000 in damages.
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