Right from the heartland of America, another two employees of Wal-Mart, and a former worker, have filed a lawsuit claiming that the company retaliates against workers who file workers’ compensation claims. Molly Self and Tammy Mathes charge that they filed claims for on-the-job injuries, only to find that Wal-Mart then reduced their hours, cut their pay, or demoted them. A former employee, Janna Balak, says she was forced to resign as a condition of her settlement of a workers’ compensation claim. These employees are seeking class-action status for their suit. According to the Associated Press, these women claim Wal-Mart employees are afraid to file workers’ compensation claims out of fear of retaliation. They also say that understaffing at the stores creates an environment “where workplace injuries are inevitable.” “We think this is a companywide policy that potentially affects thousands of people,” said Alex Yaffe, a spokesman for the Oklahoma City law firm that represents the women. “There are over 30,000 people employed by Wal-Mart in Oklahoma and 1.6 million nationwide. There are a ton of folks that could be affected.” Wal-Mart responded by saying the company has adequate systems to deal with workers’ compensation claims, and that safety is a top concern.”Safety is paramount in every decision we make both for customers and our associates,” a spokesman for the retailer said. The women work at Wal-Mart stores in El Reno and Moore, Oklahoma. They are seeking damages of more than $10,000 for lost wages and benefits, lost earning capacity, humiliation and emotional distress.
For other Wal-Mart litigation, search Newsflash by “lawsuits” or “sue” Wal-Mart has managed to accumulate more lawsuits than men’s suits. When people wonder why Wal-Mart is not even ranked in the top 100 best places to work, according to Fortune magazine, I remind them that such rankings are based on employee surveys, and Wal-Mart workers apparently do not offer their company as a good place to work.
