Shame Apparently Works on Some Corporations...

But not on their insurers.

You may remember my post about Taneka Talley and the shameful way in which the insurance company is treating her death. Quick recap:

Ms. Talley was at work stocking the shelves at the Dollar Store where she was employed. A man walked in, stabbed her to death. The insurance company denied the claim against the life insurance policy claiming that it was not work related. They said it was not work related because the man who killed her was just looking for the first African-American he could find so that he could kill them.

Let's see: only reason she died was because she working where she was supposed when she was supposed to. Sounds like it was work related. Doesn't sound like a vengeful ex-lover came after her. Or that she had been knifed by a co-worker because of a person dispute. Nope, sounds liek she died only because she was at work that day.

Well, apparently, protests against the Dollar Store have had some effect. Apparently afraid that the bad publicity will hurt their sales even more, one of the company's vice-presidents, Timothy Reid, announced that "he full workers' compensation benefit permitted under California law[]" will be paid to Ms. Talley's survivor, a son who is still in junior high.

Personally, I think that is not enough. They have made this kid and his guardian (his grandmother) wait for more than two years for this death benefit. The insurer in this case is getting away with making a profit. I hope that Dollar Tree is able to turn around and sue their insurer for bad faith. Letting Specialty Risk Services, a subsidiary of The Hartford, get away with this perversion of the facts is, in my opinion, a travesty.