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Wal-Mart: Not Just Lead in the Toys.
By Chuck | March 27, 2008
Debbie Shank was once a stock person at Wal-Mart. That was almost 8 years ago. That was before her accident. In May 2000 she was in a severe traffic accident that left he in a wheelchair and robbed her of her short term memory.
Two years later she and her husband won a suit against the trucking company that was at fault for the accident. After legal fees they walked away with $417,000 that was put in a trust for Debbie Shank’s care.
Because of some small print on her health plan policy Wal-Mart sued her for $470,000.
Let that sink in a second.
Wal-Mart, who made $90 billion last year, sued her, a disabled former employee, for more then she is worth.
How the fuck is this possible?
Well, the small print I mentioned earlier states that Wal-Mart has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.
Fuck.
Wal-Mart sued and won. The Shanks lost their appeal. A week later they lost their son in Iraq. Thing is, she has no short term memory and even though she attended the funeral for her son she doesn’t remember that he is dead. Every time she hears about her son dying in Iraq it is the first time.
Her husband, who is 54 and recovering from prostate cancer, works two jobs in order to take care of the family. He had to divorce his wife in order to receive Medicaid. Sometimes I wonder how we are considered a civilized country.
Wal-Mart. Save money. Live better.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I almost blogged about this myself after I read the story yesterday.
I really want to hear what Wal-Mart has to say. Not the corporation, but a human being in the Wal-Mart hierarchy.
They say that they had to excercise the right to sue for the money back to set a precedent for all employees, but they didn’t have to demand the money back even after they won the suit. They could have won, and left it at that letting this poor woman keep the money. That would have been the human thing to do.
March 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Those fucking assholes. I was in tears when I read this on CNN a few days ago. How pathetic that they would go after the money that has been designated to be used for her long term care. How fucking sad that our government would allow them to do something like that.
It said in the original article that they had $417 after legal fees (which is also sick, if you ask me), and as of now there is only $200-some odd-thousand left. This alone should show that the little bit of money they won is nowhere NEAR what will be needed for her longterm care.
The whole situation makes me physically ill.
March 29th, 2008 at 11:19 am
And people look at me like I have three heads when I tell them I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. If nothing else, this is more ammunition.