FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Florida man, who worked at an Adidas retail store in Broward County has filed a lawsuit against his former employer over management’s alleged race discrimination, retaliation, and his eventual termination.
Marcus Thomas, who is Black, filed his lawsuit against Adidas America Inc. in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
In his 22-page complaint, he contends Adidas violated the federal Civil Rights Act by discriminating against him based on his race, creating a hostile work environment, retaliating against him, and terminating his employment in retaliation.
“The timing of plaintiff’s termination, occurring shortly after plaintiff pursued additional protected activity, combined with defendant’s disparate treatment of similarly situated non-Black employees, demonstrates that defendant’s stated reasons for termination were pretextual and that race discrimination and retaliation were motivating factors in Defendant’s decision to terminate plaintiff’s employment,” the filing states.
Thomas worked at Adidas’ Sawgrass Mills retail store in Broward County in a supervisory management role.
Thomas, who began working for the company in May 2023, alleges he also was subjected to intimidation and disparate discipline.
Problems began in mid-2024, he contends. Prior to that, he had never been subjected to formal discipline, he notes in the lawsuit.
“Management personnel routinely raised their voices at employees and managers, slammed their hands on desks during meetings, and engaged in aggressive conduct in front of employees and customers, creating an atmosphere characterized by fear, instability, and intimidation,” the suit states.
“Employees routinely warned plaintiff about management’s temper and advised him to avoid interactions when management personnel were angry because employees feared retaliation and hostile treatment.”
Thomas claims he attended a management meeting in June 2024 concerning whether another employee should be disciplined for a fraudulent return transaction.
He claims he “calmly expressed” that coaching would be more appropriate than formal discipline; another manager disagreed. Thomas claims he was then accused of “berating” another manager and behaving in a condescending manner.
“Rather than addressing the substance of plaintiff’s comments, management abruptly shifted the discussion toward plaintiff’s physical appearance, stature, tone, and presence,” the filing states. “In front of other managers, plaintiff was described as ‘big,’ ‘strong,’ ‘tough-looking,’ and ‘threatening,’ and management further stated that plaintiff’s ‘voice demands the room.’
“These remarks invoked racial stereotypes historically used to portray Black men as inherently intimidating, aggressive, dangerous, or physically threatening regardless of their actual conduct.”
According to Thomas’ lawsuit, he reported the incident internally and advised management he found the remarks “offensive, discriminatory and racially charged.” He claims he also reported the incident to Human Resources to document the conduct and request action.
Later, he filed formal complaints with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
After learning of his protected activity, Thomas claims Adidas’ treatment of him changed.
“Management began excluding plaintiff from leadership discussions, limiting communications with him, isolating him from decisions that had previously fallen within his responsibilities, and marginalizing him within store operations,” his filing states.
In 2025, Adidas allegedly “escalated its retaliatory conduct” and filed written warnings against Thomas.
On Dec. 23, 2025, Adidas terminated Thomas’ employment after he allegedly lacked a sufficient “sense of urgency” in addressing a register discrepancy.
“Defendant’s explanation was false, pretextual and inconsistent with plaintiff’s documented conduct on the evening in question, which included active investigation, physical searches for the missing funds, review of transaction information, and prompt notification to management and loss-prevention personnel,” the filing states.
“The similarly situated non-Black manager who also worked the closing shift and shared responsibility for store operations was not disciplined and remained employed by defendant.”
Thomas seeks compensatory damages, back pay, front pay, emotional distress damages, uncapped punitive damages, prejudgment interest and attorney fees.
Winston Maynard Law LLC in Orlando is representing Thomas. Judge William P. Dimitrouleas has been assigned the case.
