Former sales manager claims he warned HR twice before the company fired him
Red Bull faces a federal race discrimination lawsuit after a former sales manager says HR brushed off his repeated complaints about racial bias.
Jywaun Williams, an African American former Account Sales Manager at Red Bull Distribution Company in Erie, Pennsylvania, filed suit on February 15 in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleging he was fired because of his race and because he spoke up about it.
Williams worked for Red Bull from late 2023 until May 30, 2025. He started as a merchandiser, moved up to sales trainee and was promoted to Account Sales Manager around March 2024. By all accounts in the filing, he was a competent, satisfactory employee.
The trouble, according to Williams, began shortly after his promotion. During a ride-along, his supervisor, District Sales Manager Jesse Young, called him "boy." Williams asked Young not to use the term, explaining that he found it offensive. Young apologized, but Williams says it was clear his supervisor was not pleased about being corrected.
From that point on, Williams alleges, Young's behavior toward him shifted. Conversations became strictly transactional. Questions were met with sarcasm. Meanwhile, Williams says, white Account Sales Managers received a warmer, more helpful version of the same supervisor. When Williams later confronted Young about the disparity, Young allegedly explained that he treated white...
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