Walmart must face gay ex-worker's harassment claim, US court rules

Walmart hired Sharpe-Miller in 2017 to stock shelves at a Roswell, New Mexico, store and later made him a supervisor in the food department overseeing nearly 30 other employees. He was demoted to a lower-paying job in 2019 after a conflict with store managers, who told him he was being investigated for sexually harassing twin brothers under his supervision, according to court filings.

Sharpe-Miller denied wrongdoing and the investigation went nowhere, he says. But he ultimately quit in 2021, which he claims was necessary after he faced anti-gay bias. Coworkers used various slurs and mocked Sharpe-Miller's perceived femininity, according to filings in the case.

Sharpe-Miller sued Walmart in 2022 alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a comparable New Mexico law. U.S. District Judge Kea Riggs in Albuquerque granted summary judgment to the company in 2024.

Sharpe-Miller appealed to the 10th Circuit, where the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission backed his bid to revive the hostile work environment claim. The agency in a 2024 amicus brief said the "steady barrage" language in 10th Circuit precedent was illustrative and not exhaustive of the kind of conduct that could violate Title VII, and that Riggs had improperly relied upon it.