Here’s a small story out of St. Louis that tells you a lot about the way Wal-Mart operates:
A state appeals court has ordered Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to pay legal fees for [Linda Monroe,] a former worker who sued after injuring herself stocking 50-pound sacks of dog food.The court called the company's previous delay in covering her medical costs “egregious and outrageous.”...
“The problem here is that it's now 2005, and we've still got to wait for another hearing to get some compensation,” Damick said….
After years of legal challenges, Wal-Mart paid Monroe's medical expenses in August after the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission upheld an administrative judge's 2003 finding that Monroe deserved the compensation.In the commission's ruling, member John Hickey wrote that Wal-Mart “has consistently demonstrated that it is unwilling to comply with the spirit of the Workers' Compensation Act by failing to provide timely medical care and temporary benefits.”
Think this case isn’t typical? Then read this story out of Seattle.
Think these kinds of workplace injuries happen at every large store? According to the Corporate Social Research Center:
Wal-Mart now ranks second behind the U.S. government as the most-sued organisation in the world. The supermarkets chain was sued 4,851 times last year - once every two hours... There are 9,400 cases pending against Wal-Mart in the U.S. court system. The curious phenomenon has created a micro-economy for lawyers across the U.S...The lawsuits are many and varied: slipping on just-cleaned floors, sex-discrimination claims from workers, a woman who was killed by a rifle bought illegally from the store by her husband. Even when the store is found liable, it still continues its legal trench warfare...That was in 2001. The situation is even worse now. Fortune magazine reported last month that:
Wal-Mart is embattled as it has never been before. Sex-discrimination litigation, wage and pay disputes, fights with unions, and other workplace problems have left the company at loggerheads with plaintiffs lawyers, federal investigators, and even the chattering classes.
Such a record of litigation begs the question, “Why does Wal-Mart think it’s above the law?”
JR
Posted by Brendan - May 6, 2005 05:11 PM - Duplicity