Saturday, March 29, 2008

Another Reason to Hate Wal-Mart

As if Wal-Mart did not give a person enough reasons to hate them, they have managed to find a new low. They sued one of their former employees by the name of Debbie Shank.

Did this employee do something wrong? Did she steal from a store? Embezzle? Maybe even leak some of their employment practices?

No, she had the misfortune of doing two things. First, she signed up for the Wal-Mart employee health plan. Second, she was the innocent party in a traffic accident which left her brain damaged.

Left brain damaged and unable to work, she was able to sue the driver who was responsible for the accident. After collecting nearly $1 million at trial, she was left with approximately $417,000 after taxes, attorneys fees, and costs. That $417,000 was placed into a trust so that she could be cared for since she was no longer able to effectively care for herself. She now needs 24 hour care and is living in nursing home.

Then Wal-Mart stepped up. Or rather down. They decided to enforce a portion of her employee health plan. This plan states that Wal-Mart can seek reimbursement for money laid by the plan if the employee later receives a recovery in a lawsuit. The total medical bills came to $470,000.

Wal-Mart, being the lovely people that they are, has since sued for the entire $470,000 dollars. Because of the fine print of the plan, they have won. And are now seeking to recover all of the money.

Nice to see that a multi-million corporation has the heart to force a profoundly disabled person to repay them money that they actually need. Remember that the next time you shop there.

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