Publix
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Florida woman who works in the bakery at a Wilton Manors Publix grocery store claims she was sexually harassed, discriminated against because of her race and nationality, and retaliated against for reporting it.
Plaintiff Myreille B. Severe, who is Black and Haitian, filed her lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division.
In her 25-page complaint, Severe names Publix Super Markets Inc. as the defendant. She has worked at a Publix store in Wilton Manors in Broward County since September 2024. She is a bakery clerk/baker assistant, according to the filing.
Severe alleges the harassment began in May 2025 at the hands of Baker Manager Carlos Melendez.
She claims she was subjected to “a severe and pervasive pattern of unwanted physical contact and sexually explicit verbal conduct” because of her sex, in conjunction with derogatory references to her Haitian nationality and race.
She alleges Melendez: repeatedly hugged her without her consent; bit her on her shoulder; poked her in the back; rubbed his body against her; slapped her on her buttocks; tried to bite her on her leg while making barking and growling sounds; and made sexually explicit statements directed at her.
Some of these statements included, “I will drive you to the other part of the world. I will show you different love” and “Haitian p---- sweet like honey.”
“The unwanted physical contact and verbal harassment were witnessed on multiple occasions by Plaintiff's coworkers in the bakery department,” Severe’s lawsuit states.
Melendez continued to harass Severe, even after she reported his “harassing conduct” to Publix’s management between May 2025 and June 2025, she alleges.
“Mr. Melendez was not transferred out of the bakery until on or about August 4, 2025, approximately ten (10) weeks after Plaintiff's first complaint and only after Plaintiff was directed to contact Defendant's Human Resources department directly,” the lawsuit states.
That’s when the retaliation began to occur, Severe contends.
She claims following her “repeated rejections” of Melendez’s advances and her “multiple protected complaints to management” that he told her she was “lazy” and threatened he would “get her out of the store.”
In August 2025, Melendez completed a performance evaluation of Severe; she scored a 20 out of 100 – what she claims is an “aberrantly and objectively low score” that does not reflect her actual job performance.
She argues the evaluation was fabricated “in direct furtherance” of Melendez’s intent to remove her from employment at the store.
Two months later, in further retaliation, Severe contends her access to Publix’s timekeeping system was removed or disabled, preventing her from clocking in and reporting to work.
At one point, an assistant store manager told Severe – in response to her continued workplace complaints – that she was going to order a muzzle from Amazon and put it on Severe’s mouth because she “talked too much,” the filing states.
The retaliation continued in January 2026 when Bakery Manager Amanda Paulino secretly added Severe to the work schedule without notifying her – no call, text, or email – and then reported Severe to the assistant store manager as a no-call/no-show when she did not appear for the unannounced shift.
“Store Manager Gary Casella investigated and determined that Ms. Paulino had added Plaintiff to the schedule without providing her with any notice and that Plaintiff could not be penalized for failing to appear for a shift of which she had no knowledge,” the lawsuit states, noting that Severe was not disciplined as a result of the incident.
“This prior schedule manipulation was a deliberate, earlier attempt by Ms. Paulino to manufacture a pretextual disciplinary basis to justify Plaintiff's termination the same scheme Ms. Paulino would execute again, with greater sophistication, in February 2026.”
Severe alleges Publix violated the federal Civil Rights Act and the Florida Civil Rights Act.
She seeks back pay, including lost wages and lost employment benefits; front pay in lieu of reinstatement; compensatory damages; punitive damages; attorneys’ fees; and injunctive relief requiring Publix to implement and enforce appropriate anti-harassment and anti-retaliation policies, training, and monitoring at her store and systemwide.
Fort Lauderdale firm Bryan Farr Health Lawyers LLC is representing Severe in the lawsuit.
