DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A former vice president with an Iowa-based convenience store chain is suing the company, alleging gender discrimination by a female executive accused by her colleagues of hating men. Stuart Taylor, a former Kum & Go vice president, is suing the company and Chief Marketing Officer Tracy Ging in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, claiming there was a “blatant disparity” in how the company treated men and women.

Court records indicate Taylor was hired in 2018 as Kum & Go’s vice president of business insights and analytics and later filled the interim roles of vice president of category management and vice president of food service, while retaining his original position. According to the lawsuit, he initially received favorable performance reviews and was designated a “shooting star” at the company, signifying the company’s recognition of his talent and potential to join the senior leadership team.

In 2020, the company hired Ging as its new chief marketing officer. The lawsuit alleges that within a few months, Ging fired the vice president of food service, Jeff Schamburger, which led to Taylor filling the position on an interim basis. According to the lawsuit, while Taylor’s work in that role was viewed as a success, Ging stripped him of his “shooting star” designation and hired a woman to fill the position of vice president of food service. She later criticized statements made by Taylor and, the lawsuit claims, “somehow managed to accuse him of gender discrimination based on his neutral suggestion” on a marketing issue. The lawsuit alleges Ging was “accusing Taylor of being chauvinistic simply for voicing an opinion that was different than her own.”

The lawsuit also alleges Taylor “asked Ging why she had accused him multiple times of being sexist. Ging’s response was to apologize, to say that she didn’t really know, but that sometimes people just ‘need a punch in the nose.’” In addition, the lawsuit claims Ging witnessed a female vice president berating a male colleague and did nothing to intervene, citing the alleged incident as one example of the “blatant disparity in treatment” of men and women at the company.

“Ging tolerates women disrespecting men, but even a perceived slight of a man against a woman was met with an iron fist,” the lawsuit alleges. “Taylor has also been told by another individual who worked with Ging that ‘Tracy is good at strategy, but the thing about her is she just hates men.’”

Taylor alleges Ging fired him April 2023 for pretextual reasons intended to disguise illegal gender discrimination. A trial date has yet to be scheduled in the case.