Female drivers either have to buy and wash their own pants or suffer discomfort, the lawsuit says.
Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo
- Walmart’s delivery driver pants don’t fit women, a female driver alleged in a lawsuit.
- Female drivers must either buy and wash their own pants or suffer discomfort, the lawsuit claims.
- The lawsuit’s claimant alleged that this amounts to “blatant sex discrimination.”
The pants that Walmart requires delivery drivers to wear don’t fit women properly, a female driver for the retail giant in Atlanta alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
“This is blatant sex discrimination by Walmart against its female drivers,” the class-action lawsuit, filed on behalf of all female drivers affected by the lack of appropriate pants, says.
Diana Webb, who’s driven for Walmart since July 2020, alleged in the lawsuit that she’d had to purchase her own trousers because the ones provided by the company weren’t comfortable and didn’t fit properly.
Drivers are required to wear a uniform consisting of pants and a shirt while at work, and are subject to “immediate termination” if they don’t, according to the lawsuit.
Walmart provides the uniform to drivers – but “only provides men’s pants for both male and female drivers,” the lawsuit alleged.
These pants are “uncomfortable and poorly-fitting for the female drivers,” the lawsuit says. “For female drivers, it is impossible to wear the men’s pants provided by Walmart specifically made to fit only male employees due to anatomical differences between the sexes.”
Female drivers are able to buy their own pants but must foot the bill themselves, the lawsuit said. It also claimed that Walmart laundered and dry cleaned drivers’ company-issued pants but if staff chose to buy their own then Walmart doesn’t provide these services, according to the lawsuit.
“Female drivers are therefore required to either suffer discomfort, or purchase and launder their own pants, out of their own pocket, with no option for reimbursement,” it alleged.
Webb said that she complained to her supervisors and HR multiple times before filing the lawsuit, but they didn’t take action. Supervisors had also denied Webb’s request for reimbursement for the multiple pairs of pants and shorts that she’d bought to wear for work, per the lawsuit.
Walmart didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
“I just felt it wasn’t right,” Webb told AL.com. “I do the same job as any other driver out there. So does every other woman.”
Eric Atrip, Webb’s attorney, told AL.com that Walmart should reimburse her for the pants.
“It’s not a lot of money, but if you’re making the women pay it and not making the men pay it, that’s not fair,” he said. The law requires Walmart to “treat the men and the women the same and that’s all we’re asking for,” he added.
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