A Black woman says she was a victim of racial discrimination and retaliation when she worked at Chipotle.
Tameka Fulson filed her federal lawsuit against Chipotle Services LLC doing business as Chipotle Mexican Grill.
According to the complaint, Fulson worked for Chipotle at a Kansas City location in May 2019. She says most of the staff at that Chipotle location was Hispanic.
On April 25, 2022, Fulson says she was berated and bullied by coworker Monserrat Juarez, who called her "too grande" and said other things to her. She reported the incident to General Manager Ocasio Gonzalez and asked to leave for the day, but he refused to allow her to leave. When she asked for the phone number for Field Leader Colleen Ferguson, who was Gonzalez' supervisor, he initially refused to provide it. Ferguson said she would investigate.
Three days later, Fulson was told to report for a meeting about the investigation. At the meeting, she says she was given a final written warning for allegedly telling Juarez she would slap her if she didn't get out of her face.
Fulson says that accusation was "patently false" and asked Juarez to confirm it to Gonzalez.
She says the harassment continued after the meeting, with Juarez allegedly saying she was "stuck" working with Fulson and that Chipotle needed to "hire some new Mexican people." She says others told her they liked her because she "wasn't lazy like other Black people."
On June 1, 2022, Fulson was given a written warning for Chipotle was racist. She says she recorded that meeting on her phone. On June 8, 2022, Fulon was terminated for recording the June 1, 2022, meeting.
Fulson filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in August 2022. In October 2023, the EEOC issued Fulson a Notice of Right to Sue.
She is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, front pay, back pay, lost benefits, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.