A Missouri City (Texas) woman convicted of a sex crime is out to prove that she has rights after being fired from her job at Wal-Mart.
Rebecca Vlasek, she of the inspiring mug shot, has filed suit claiming discrimination against our little Wal-Mart. Why you ask? Well, I’ll tell you.
Picture it: Brenham, Texas...1999. A sultry high school teacher pleads guilty to felony sexual assault of a minor. The charge: having a relationship with a 14-year-old female student. The result: 10 years on probation and the thrill of getting to register as an official pervert within the state of Texas. You can check out her rap sheet here and here.
So why is Vlasek complaining now? Well Wal-Mart, it turns out, discovered some time ago that it has quite a few sexual offenders working within its friendly confines. And, as it also turns out, every so often one of these offenders decides to, how shall we say, engage in some recidivism? Like this, and this...AND this........AANNNND this.
The result is that Wal-Mart, since adopting a new criminal background check policy, has fired approximately 800 employees who are registered sex offenders. Vlasek (pictured more recently), however, isn’t complaining about those that were fired...no, she’s complaining about the 25 or more (male, she claims) employee offenders Wal-Mart ISN’T firing. That’s right - according to her complaint, Vlasek is alleging that she has received disparate treatment because of her gender. We’ll see whether the court buys the arguments that Vlasek was fired not just because she “had relations” with a 14-year-old girl but because she is a woman...AND that Wal-Mart retained those other 25 or so offenders specifically because they’re men, and not for some other reason.
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
This is right from Wal-Mart’s government affairs guru Leslie Dach’s playbook on “How to Appear Nonpartisan and Back a Winner.”
Jake Wagman pointed out on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Political Fix blog yesterday, Wal-Mart ponied up $10,000 for governor-elect Jay Nixon – two days after he won Tuesday’s election. Repeat: after he won.
Given that Wal-Mart has avoided paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes in Missouri and no doubt violated every labor law in existence - under the current administration’s oversight - it’s easy to understand why Wal-Mart would want to attempt to curry favor with the state’s new governor. Sure, political contributions often come into campaigns after elections for one reason or another, but Wal-Mart is clearly trying to send a message and buy a little access as it faces the changes that will come with new administrations in Missouri and nationally. As Wal-Mart girds for a fight over EFCA and undoubtedly a host of other issues, Lee Scott and the Walton family are understandably nervous and willing to drop a few bucks here, there and everywhere to try to keep the status quo.
Look for more on the Walton family influence here.
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Check out this week’s issue of the Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials – a compilation of Wal-Mart news from across the country and beyond.
This week’s issue begins with reports of price gouging on the part of Wal-Mart. What’s truly abhorrent about these reports, however, is that they are being made by the very people affected most by the recent cavalcade of hurricanes to batter the Gulf coast. The Arkansas News Bureau and The Consumerist have more on these stories.
You’ll also find major news on the legal front. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed its second lawsuit against Wal-Mart in less than three weeks. The first involves the Americans with Disabilities Act in Illinois; the second involves age discrimination against a 67-year-old optician in Missouri. In addition to the EEOC lawsuits, Wal-Mart will now have to face another class action wage/hour lawsuit. Salvas v. Wal-Mart was originally certified as a class action back in 2004. Since then the case has gone back and forth through the Massachusetts court system, eventually being decertified and winding up in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on appeal. Well, the SJC released its opinion this week, ruling that the decertification was improper and that the lawsuit should be reinstated as a class action. A trial is possible, which could cost Wal-Mart hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid wages and damages. The Boston Globe and Boston Herald have the story.
Also check out the Product and Food Safety Report, where you’ll find stories on BPA (and a class action lawsuit regarding the chemical that includes Wal-Mart), dangerous soccer goals and baby cribs sold at Wal-Mart, and a pet food recall involving Purina products sold at the retailer.
And finally, check out our “Stateside” and “Wal-Mart International” sections to find out what’s going on with Wal-Mart around the country and across the globe.
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials [September 24, 2008]
Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
For the second time in as many weeks, Wal-Mart has been accused of violating federal law by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In the first lawsuit filed earlier this month in Illinois, the EEOC accused Wal-Mart of violating employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This time around, the suit involves not disability but age discrimination. The ADEA - or Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 - prohibits employment discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older in the United States. After an investigation, the EEOC determined Yvonne Loskot was fired from the retailer’s De Soto, Missouri, store because she was too old and made too much money.
According to the EEOC complaint filed in federal court in Missouri’s eastern district, Loskot was 67 when she was fired. According to a story from the St. Louis Business Journal, Wal-Mart has claimed Loskot was let go for violating an unspecified company policy.
Loskot, who worked for Wal-Mart for a decade, earned $18 an hour as a certified optician, making her the highest-paid employee in the De Soto store’s optical department.
Agency accuses Wal-Mart of age discrimination [CNN Money]
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
With gas and food prices soaring, Jan Stalley says she’s thrilled that the Wal-Mart on Telegraph Road is being expanded to a supercenter, adding a full-service grocery.
“I can’t wait,” said Stalley, who lives with her husband and two sons in south St. Louis County. “Wal-Mart is going to make Schnucks and Dierbergs run for their money.”
Those sharing Stalley’s sentiments will be glad to hear that the Bentonville, Ark., retailer is proceeding with expansion plans in the St. Louis area despite cutbacks in other parts of the country. The company plans to open eight of its supercenters through next year, the first being in Fenton next month.
“We have slowed down growth, but it hasn’t affected the St. Louis market,” said Carol Johnston, vice president and regional general manager. “It’s a fantastic market for us. … The time is so right.”
Consumers are finding their budgets increasingly squeezed by rising prices for food and fuel. Reports from the Labor Department on Thursday showed consumer prices have risen 5.6 percent during the last 12 months, and weekly earnings, when adjusted for inflation, are down 3.1 percent.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya | Permalink
Wal-Mart has abandoned the heartland for greener pastures. Literally.
The company has held it’s Managers Meetings in Kansas City since 1997, and had pledged to keep them there through 2012, but yesterday announced that it was moving this year’s meeting to sunny Orlando. The meeting, Kansas City’s biggest annual convention, would have drawn over 8,000 attendees and pumped over $8 Million into the local economy.
The move is a major blow to KC, who for its part isn’t doing too much complaining - in efforts to build up the city’s convention infrastructure and hopefully woo Wal-Mart back some other year.
Congrats to Orlando, though - Wal-Mart meetings are a riot.
Wal-Mart, KC’s largest annual convention, is leaving [Kansas City Star]:
Kansas City’s largest annual convention is taking a hike.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. told city officials Tuesday it was canceling an informal pledge to hold its national managers meetings in Kansas City through 2012. It was the latest in a string of major convention losses for the city, and rekindled debate about public help for a new 1,000-room convention hotel downtown.
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Posted by Eric Bull | Permalink
Official word: Wal-Mart isn’t closing local stores or building replacements [Southeast Missourian]
If you visit the Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau, you’ll see a banner sign on the building seeking temporary help for a store remodeling job. The appearance of that sign intriqued me, so I called the Bentonville, Ark., headquarters of the world’s largest retailer. What I heard should, for now, put to rest rumors about the future of the Cape Girardeau and Jackson stores.
At least one alert reader has e-mailed recently me saying they heard that both stores would close in favor of a new, larger Wal-Mart at the new Interstate 55 interchange.
Carrie McKnight, a senior manager of public affairs for the retailing giant, assured me that no money would be spent on the store if there were plans to shut it down anytime soon.
The remodeling job isn’t unusual, she said. “Typically, every six or seven years we go in and remodel the stores,” she said.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya | Permalink
No Thanks, Says Wal-Mart to LS [Lee’s Summit Tribune (Mo.)]
Nevermind.
That’s what Wal-Mart officials had to say to the Lee’s Summit Planning Commission May 27.
The commission voted unanimously to approve rezoning and a development plan for the city’s second Wal-Mart store at the northeast corner of South 291 Highway and 150 Highway.
Immediately after the vote, Wal-Mart withdrew its application.
The retailer planned a 176,350-square-foot store on about 55 acres. As part of the plan, Wal-Mart would have paid some $1.5 million to relocate electrical, water and sewer lines to facilitate further development on the property. The company also agreed to increase sewer capacity and make about $1.2 million in road improvements around the site.
But the company balked at one requirement - providing access to undeveloped property to the south that Wal-Mart doesn’t own.
“We were surprised they would withdraw so late in the process,” said Linda Tyrrel, deputy director of planning and development.
Commissioner Dave Mosby said the commission was taken by surprise, as well.
“We hadn’t had any indication of that before the meeting,” he said.
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Posted by Tony Calero | Permalink
Planning Commission Reviews Wal-Mart Plan [Lee’s Summit Tribune (Mo.)]
A new Wal-Mart may be headed for southern Lee’s Summit, but not without some hurdles along the way.
The Lee’s Summit Planning Commission on Tuesday had a public hearing for rezoning and a development plan for the retailer, but continued its discussion to May 27. A new Super Center is planned for the northeast corner of South 291 Highway and 150 Highway.
The commission wanted more information on how the company could better provide access to lots to the south of the proposed development and how the retailer would participate in a transportation development district planned for the 150 Highway corridor.
The 176,350-square-foot store and its 920-space parking lot would occupy some 55 acres. It would include grocery and garden sections, as well as traditional Wal-Mart retail space.
The retailer would spend some $1.5 million to relocate electrical, water and sewer lines in order to facilitate development on both sides of the property. The company would also increase sewer capacity in the area and make some $1.2 million in road improvements in and around the development area.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Planning Commission Reviews Wal-Mart Plan [Lee’s Summit Tribune (Mo.)]
A new Wal-Mart may be headed for southern Lee’s Summit, but not without some hurdles along the way.
The Lee’s Summit Planning Commission on Tuesday had a public hearing for rezoning and a development plan for the retailer, but continued its discussion to May 27. A new Super Center is planned for the northeast corner of South 291 Highway and 150 Highway.
The commission wanted more information on how the company could better provide access to lots to the south of the proposed development and how the retailer would participate in a transportation development district planned for the 150 Highway corridor.
The 176,350-square-foot store and its 920-space parking lot would occupy some 55 acres. It would include grocery and garden sections, as well as traditional Wal-Mart retail space.
The retailer would spend some $1.5 million to relocate electrical, water and sewer lines in order to facilitate development on both sides of the property. The company would also increase sewer capacity in the area and make some $1.2 million in road improvements in and around the development area.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
May this serve as a cautionary tale for all those city officials who think there’s not danger to siding with Wal-Mart.
Alderman target of complaints by city officials [Tri-County Journal (Mo.)]
After a harsh rebuke of what they allege has been a year-long pattern of verbal abuse of city staff, costly delays of major projects and unreasonable demands, Eureka’s mayor and several aldermen said if it was in their power, they would oust Ward 1 Alderman Steve Collins from his post.
Collins, though, said while some accusations of his interactions with city staff members are justified, he will not resign and will continue to raise questions about key public policy issues, even if those questions are uncomfortable for city officials or other members of the Board of Aldermen.
The public condemnation started early in the April 1 Board of Aldermen session, when two residents, Don Hinkelbein and Ralph Gianino, criticized Collins for questioning and opposing projects already completed and refusing to get on board with other city officials and support the JBA Eureka LLC retail and residential development now under way.Hinkelbein pointed to two projects in particular, the Shoppes at Hilltop transportation development district and the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Eureka Towne Center.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart seems to have a hard time abiding by hazardous waste disposal laws. Despite the company’s efforts to appear environmentally sustainable, Wal-Mart’s hazardous materials are becoming an ongoing problem - be it with disposal or in products like toys.
The company’s latest problem handling hazardous substances is in the “show me” state. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has sent a violation notice to Wal-Mart over the company’s hazardous waste disposal practices. In this case, Wal-Mart hired an agriculture products recycling outfit to handle products which should have been handled as hazardous waste. In short, Wal-Mart tried to recycle hazardous agricultural products, instead of a using a more expensive - and mandatory by law - hazardous waste disposal contractor. From the Wall Street Journal:
The Bentonville, Ark., retailer said the allegations were the result of an inspection by the agency of a third-party contractor’s plant in Missouri, according to its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wal-Mart Stores said it contracted with the third-party to recycle agricultural products and materials. The company said the Missouri claim alleges that Wal-Mart provided certain items to the third-party contractor for recycling that should have been managed as hazardous waste.
This is not the first time Wal-Mart has tried to skirt hazardous waste laws through questionable disposal policies. Wal-Mart is currently subject to a massive investigation in the State of California and the State of Nevada over its hazardous waste disposal policies. You can read more about Wal-Mart’s hazardous waste disposal problems in our Hazardous Waste Fact Sheet (PDF) and environmental white paper (PDF).
Posted by Research Team | Permalink
When we first heard about Wal-Mart’s plan to sue former employee Deborah Shank for the money the company spent on her health care, we did everything we could to raise awareness and help her out. After a near-fatal collision with a semi-truck, Deborah was brain-damaged in need of permanent full-time care. Now, Wal-Mart is poised to leave her penniless too.
It takes Wal-Mart less than 38 seconds to earn the $470,000 its suing the Shanks for. For a family dealing with a debilitating injury, however, that’s a small fortune. The company has recently lauded its new employee health care plan, but cases like Deborah Shanks’ show that Wal-Mart’s priorities lie only in its bottom line, without regard for its employees’ well being.
But there’s still time for Wal-Mart to do the right thing. The Wal-Mart Foundation, The Employee Fund, the Walton Family Foundation, or CEO Lee Scott personally- could all chip in to reimburse Mrs. Shank, doing the right thing by a hard-working former employee and saving their company a lot of bad publicity.
(Indeed, Wal-Mart Watch sent official letters to all three foundations asking they consider matching the amount we raised in an online fundraiser. We received responses from none.)
The Shank story remains a tragedy regardless, but action from Wal-Mart would be better late than never. If ever there was a Wal-Mart employee who deserved a little help, it’s Deborah Shank.
Brain-damaged ex-worker must pay $470,000 to Wal-Mart [St. Louis Post-Tribune (Mo.)]
The family of a Missouri woman must reimburse Wal-Mart for nearly a half-million dollars in medical expenses now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review her case.
The court on Monday let stand a ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis requiring Debbie Shank of Cape Girardeau County to pay nearly $470,000 to Wal-Mart.
The appeal was the last legal recourse for the family of the 52-year-old Shank, a mother of three who was critically injured in a car accident eight years ago. She suffered a brain injury that took her memory and left her with very little ability to move or communicate. She has lived in a nursing home since she was released from the hospital.
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Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Many communities are eager to see a new Wal-Mart come to town, but few think of the effect the retailer will have if and when it leaves. This article from Minnesota’s St. Cloud Times gives a local perspective to the retailer’s global prospects. Visit Battle-Mart for more information about fighting Wal-Mart in your local community.
Wal-Mart’s exit is boon, bane for communities [St. Cloud Times (Minn.)]
An empty Wal-Mart building sits along a stretch of road in Little Falls and shoppers have been rerouted to a newer, bigger Wal-Mart down the street.
Its owners have taken care of the old building after the Wal-Mart Supercenter was built in August. It’s been repainted a shade of light green, masking signs of what once thrived there.
At any given time, about 300 to 400 former Wal-Mart stores sit empty around the nation, in some cases for as long as five to seven years, said Ken Stone, a retired professor from Iowa State University who has studied Wal-Mart for about 20 years. Those empty buildings can be a blight to a community and area businesses if they sit untouched for too long.
“It’s a real problem, there’s no question about it,” Stone said.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart reveals plans for south Springfield Sam’s [Springfield (Mo.) Business Journal]
Sam’s Club has plans to open a second Springfield store in the James River Commons development on the south side near James River Freeway and Campbell Avenue, confirming rumors of a Wal-Mart connection to the property that began nearly three years ago. Sam’s Club is a division of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The 135,000-square-foot store will open in spring 2009, according to Wal-Mart spokeswoman Carrie Thum, and feature a fuel station, carwash, pharmacy, optical center, one-hour photo center, expanded café, and a tire and battery center.
The project’s developer is Columbia-based The Kroenke Group, which with Springfield-based Ron Stenger Cos. purchased the 80-acre plot next to The Library Center on South Campbell in January 2005 with plans for a retail development. Speculation of a Wal-Mart at the site surfaced because Kroenke Group is a known Wal-Mart developer. The Kroenke Group owner Stan Kroenke is married to Ann Walton Kroenke, niece of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
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Posted by Andrew Yonki | Permalink
Glen Carbon mayor says plans to supersize Wal-Mart are dead [St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Mo.)]
GLEN CARBON — A plan to expand the Wal-Mart store at Cottonwood Plaza and make it a 24-hour Supercenter has been withdrawn, Mayor Rob Jackstadt said late Monday.
The plans for the Supercenter prompted a lawsuit against the village and village officials by a residents’ group called Glen-Ed Citizens for Fair Growth.
The organization had strongly opposed the proposal since shortly after it was submitted to Glen Carbon officials in 2006, raising questions about the adequacy of parking, increased traffic congestion and negative impacts on small businesses.
In a statement e-mailed to news media, Jackstadt said that Wal-Mart’s decision had nothing to do with the lawsuit.
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Posted by Andrew Yonki | Permalink
Check out all of the news on the tragic Deborah Shank vs. Wal-Mart case. The story is becoming a major public relations problem for Wal-Mart, as well it should. Let’s make sure no one forgets what Wal-Mart is trying to do to the Shanks. Click here to donate to Wal-Mart Watch’s fundraising drive for the Shank family.
12/01/2007
Wal-Mart sues incapacitated employee—Tell them what you think! [BloggingStocks]
The legality of the move aside, it’s appalling on a moral level. WalMartWatch has more information available, and also collecting donations to aid the family. That site sums it up well: This holiday season, Wal-Mart rolled out a new slogan: “Save money. Live better.” But who lives better with Wal-Mart’s low prices? Clearly, it isn’t Wal-Mart employees like Deborah Shank.
11/30/2007
Wal-Mart Takes Image Hit From Shank Case [The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas]
Wal-Mart won a lawsuit against a former employee, injured in an accident that left her brain damaged, divorced and penniless, for reimbursement from her medical care. But public relations experts say the cost to the company’s image may outweigh the $470,000 it received for repayment from Debbie Shank’s care...Union-funded Wal-Mart Watch on Tuesday sent out a letter to e-mail subscribers soliciting donations to the family, and has not only raised nearly $5,000, which the organization will match, it has been overwhelmed with e-mail responses to the case.
11/29/2007
Wal-Mart has the legal high ground in this matter as it has successfully pursued its claim to a federal appellate court. In so doing, however, it has also claimed the moral low ground. Wal-Mart argues that it has a fiduciary responsibility to its medical plan and shareholders, but this is mere obfuscation. Companies rarely resort to recovery from such tragedies, precisely because it is unseemly. The fact that Wal-Mart feels unrestrained and unrepentant in its pursuit for company justice is a shocking indictment of our culture and of this company.
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Posted by Eric Bull | Permalink
Plans stall for Wal-Mart Supercenter
Spokeswoman says developer is experiencing contract issues .
Plans for a controversial Wal-Mart Supercenter at Spencer and Mexico roads in St. Peters appear dead - for now.
“I have not been told anything officially, but it is my understanding that Wal-Mart (officials) are reviewing their expansion strategy,” St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano said Thursday.
Plans called for a 203,710-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter, which would have included a grocery section, and separate 28,000-square-foot and 6,000-square-foot retail buildings, four outlots for future development and about 950 parking spaces.
The development was planned for a 37.5-acre parcel and would have wrapped around an existing McDonald’s restaurant at Mexico and Spencer roads.
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Posted by Andrew Yonki | Permalink
Wal-Mart is currently involved in multiple lawsuits across the country, and this story from the Kansas City Star shows how they’re all connected.
Philadelphia verdict against Wal-Mart good for KC plaintiffs [Kansas City Star (Mo.)]
A Philadelphia judge’s award of an additional $62 million to Wal-Mart workers was more good news for plaintiffs in similar actions against the company in the Kansas City area.
The award last week by Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Bernstein came atop a $78.5 million verdict last year in a case alleging that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. forced workers to work through rest and meal breaks.
Although Bernstein awarded the additional money under Pennsylvania’s wage payment and collection law, Kansas — where an analogous “off the clock” suit against Wal-Mart is pending in Wyandotte County — has a comparable law.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Court dismisses objections to Arnold’s Wal-Mart supercenter [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
The city of Arnold and the developer of a Wal-Mart site have defeated a court
challenge by residents aimed at stopping the construction of a supercenter
along Highway 61—67 near an existing Wal-Mart discount store.The local residents sued Arnold after it rezoned a parcel of land to allow a
supercenter in front of the Wal-Mart store at 2201 Michigan Avenue. However, a
Jefferson County Circuit Court ruled last week that the residents had no
standing because they could show no specific harm, said Henry Luepke III, a
partner with the Stolar Partnership. Stolar represents Water Tower Development
LLC.Water Tower Development had sought the Arnold City Council’s approval of the
zoning change.
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
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