8th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds dismissal of sex discrimination lawsuit against Neosho Walmart

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld the dismissal of a sex discrimination lawsuit against Neosho Walmart.

Cloetta Brady sued Walmart after the hiring manager did not give her a promotion, instead giving it to a man who had not passed the required Supervisory Leadership Assessment aptitude test, but who was serving as nighttime support manager.

When the position originally opened, Brady told store manager Charles Cornelison she was interested and was told the job was going to remain unfilled.

When a man was hired for the position, Cornelison told Brady the man needed the job because he was "sick" and "had a family to support," according to the opinion.

The court ruled that Cornelison's comments did not relate to "the abilities of female applicants" to perform in a management position. 

Indeed, in her own deposition testimony, Brady admitted that Cornelison never made any derogatory comments towards her regarding her sex or gender.

Brady worked for Walmart from 1987 to 2008. The management decision was made in 2007. 

 The delay in the resolution to the case came because initially Brady was part of a national class action lawsuit against Walmart and when that case ended in 2021, she received permission from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to file the lawsuit in U. S. District Court.