Posted on 02/25/2005 10:33:51 AM PST by ambrose
Jury Awards $7.5 Million in Wal-Mart Case
Federal Jury Awards Man With Cerebral Palsy $7.5 Million in Wal-Mart Discrimination Case
The Associated Press
Feb. 25, 2005 - A federal jury has ordered Wal-Mart Stores to pay a Long Island man $7.5 million after ruling the retail behemoth discriminated against the man because he has cerebral palsy.
Patrick Brady, 21, was hired for a job in the Wal-Mart pharmacy department in Centereach, N.Y., during the summer of 2002. After one day in the pharmacy, he was reassigned to other responsibilities, including collecting garbage and shopping carts from the parking lot.
The jury in U.S. District Court in Central Islip deliberated one day before ruling on Wednesday that Brady was discriminated against when he was transferred. It also found that Brady was asked impermissible pre-employment questions about his disability, said his lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor.
Brady, who now works in a Centereach supermarket bagging groceries, said in a statement that he was "very happy the jury believed in me."
The jury award includes $5 million in punitive damages, which Wigdor said was likely to be reduced to $600,000 since federal law limits the amount that can be awarded for punitive damages. The jury also awarded Mr. Brady $2.5 million in compensatory damages, Wigdor said.
Christi Gallagher, a spokesman for the Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, said in a statement that the company would appeal.
"We appreciate the service of the jurors but disagree with their decision," Gallagher said. "We feel very strongly that Mr. Brady did not suffer discrimination in our store."
That is insane.
I know this is dangerous to say on FR, but at times I question if Wal-Mart is really a good place to work. I still can not get a straight answer from either their website or other places if they offer health insurance to ALL of their employees. A company that makes that much money should really pay better also.
Just my opinion...no need to get mad.
Ridiculous award.
Of course, there are people out there who would like nothing better than to bring down Wal-Mart. I find the hatred towards Wal-Mart to be incredible!
If you do not like the benifits they offer, do not apply to work there.....
I have not applied to work there, I would just like to get a straight answer about that subject. Would you happen to know?
madness!
Wal Mart has one of the lowest profit margins of any large cap company, typically under 3%.
Wal Mart is not in business to provide you or anyone else a "good" place to work.
That is determined by the free market.
And both awards will be drastically reduced.
I wonder how much this jury would have awarded a victim of something done wrong in the pharmacy by this man? No, I don't wonder. It would be at least twice this amount.
Did I say they were in business to provide that? I just made a general observation.....you know, there are good companies to work for...and then there are other companies....i didn't know that companies that provide a good place to work was a bad thing.
Why does he deserve this about of money? Walmart will fight till the finish and have seen just that happen - they won't pay out this award!
Wal-Mart is crap. I do not and will not shop there.
I hate Wal-Mart because every store I have ever had the misfortune to enter has (at best) Third World standards of cleanliness.
And I have it on very good authority that Wal-Mart accepts returns on used undergarments and bathing suits. Said source also alleges that the items are re-sold, and I have no reason to doubt her.
How much is "that much" and how much is "better." Walmart buys labor just as it buys product and warehouse space and advertising; that is, at the lowest possible prices for the labor/product/etc they can find in the marketplace. To claim that Walmart should "really pay better" is to advocate that Walmart should abandon its quest for shareholder value and become the world's largest welfare agency.
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