An associate reported that he was passed over for a promotion to a sales position at the local Pepsi$-$Cola plant. The associate is $20$ years old December $2023$ business degree graduate, and has been employed with Pepsi for four yearsWhile working at Pepsihis roles included stacking drinks and filling truck orders, and at times had rotated through the role of warehouse supervisor $.$ During his time at the planthe had been asked to also assist drivers on their local truck routes and shadow the current salesmen assisting with various requestsThe company posted the open sales position on November $28,$ but since the associate was not finished with school he did not apply The position remained open after his graduation and at that time applied $.$ During his interview $,$ the coworkers in the warehouse teased him about his southern accent $,$ his handsome appearance and still being a young fella At times, the company leadership was aware of the conversations and would tell those teasing him to stop and that everyone deserves an opportunity to apply. He interviewed for the role on January $5$th and on January $21$ was told that he was not receiving the promotion. When asked what he could have done differently to have received the job they told him experience was necessaryInitially $,$ he didn't think much about it as he was a new graduate however once he found out the person who was hired had never worked at Pepsi nor been in a sales role of any kind $.$ The person had only been a local farmer tending to cows, but also a middle$-$ aged man that played bingo regularly with the secretary on Saturdays at the local bingo hall The associate filed an EEOC claim In this case, the associate filled the EEOC claim with two types of discrimination : Age discrimination and Sexual Harassment $.$ The associate indicated that he was not hired because he was young and handsome and was overlooked $.$ The associate also claimed that since the leadership team was aware of his coworkers teasing him and since they failed to address that they chose the other candidate because he was a pretty, southern gentleman $.$

Reply back to his answer.