By Kaitlyn E. BrownThe Associated Press – SEATTLE (AP) The former Walmart employee who accused the Seattle-based retailer of using racial epithets to demean her and other employees in an online video has said she’s proud of the company’s efforts to address her allegations.
In an interview published Wednesday, the woman, identified only as Amy, said she was shocked when she saw the video and decided to speak out.
Amy, who works in customer service and told The Associated Press she quit her job at Walmart in November, said it took her several weeks to get her story out and that she is proud of Walmart for dealing with the allegations.
She said she started to see racism in the workplace and felt she needed to speak up.
Amy said she believes she and other former employees of the retailer faced discrimination and harassment and that the retailer did nothing to investigate the claims.
Amy described her experience at the Seattle store as “horrible,” saying she was fired for being an African American.
The woman said her former coworkers were not supportive of her and that they did not understand why she wanted to leave.
She said she felt like she was losing control of her life.
She has said in the past she is a victim of sexual harassment, which is the subject of a lawsuit against Walmart filed in March by a former employee who said she had a sexual encounter with her and two other female employees.
Amy told The AP she was not fired, but her employment was terminated in November.
She also said she and the other employees were told by her supervisor, David W. Johnson, that she was going to be fired for reporting sexual harassment.
Amy’s allegations about Walmart came in the wake of another video in which an employee claimed that Walmart had fired a black employee for asking about a safety breach in the store.
The Walmart employee, identified in the video as Michelle, told her manager, Lisa F. Furlong, that the incident with the employee who complained about safety was a “black thing” and that Furlin was trying to intimidate her.
Amy was fired after she called the manager and spoke to her supervisor.
Amy has said that she left Walmart after the alleged incident.
Amy and other workers said that the video showed the retailer taking action against a female employee who allegedly made a complaint against a black man.
The lawsuit against the retailer, filed by the Seattle Department of Labor and Industry, accused the company of discrimination and retaliation.
Amy is the second former employee of the Seattle Walmart to come forward about racism to the AP.
She also filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in October.