Poll of the Day > Woman with Down Syndrome wins $125 MILLION from WALMART for FIRING her!!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

A Former longtime Walmart Employee with Down Syndrome won a whopper 125 MILLION in a discrimination lawsuit against the retail giant who changed her work schedule and then FIRED her for chronic absenteeism!!

Marlo Spaeth was an employee at a Wisconsin Walmart for 16 years before she was fired in 2015 and in a lawsuit said she needed to maintain a rigid daily schedule as part of her condition that includes eating dinner at the same time every night

But they changed her hours in 2014 and made her work longer days that caused health issues of which she then filed a lawsuit by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2017 on her behalf.

When she asked to adjust her schedule by 60 to 90 minutes to get back to her noon to 4pm shift, they fired her and then refused to rehire her

An 8 member jury in Green Bay sided with her and awarded a massive 125 million in punitive damages and an additional 150K in compensatory damages

Although that number will likely be reduced to 300,000 which is the maximum cap on damages in ADA cases as a Walmart Spokesperson said it doesn't apply to back pay, front pay, litigation costs or interests

Randy Hargrove, a Walmart spokesman said the company doesn't tolerate discrimination and routinely accomodates thousands of employees each year

https://i.imgur.com/lTPMjzz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fykGsYi.jpg
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125M but she only gets 300k? What!

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As someone who worked for Walmart, its actually a great place to work. Easy work, nice hours, good pay, nice benefits, plenty of people in your age range to meet and get to know, convenience of not having to stop at the store on the way home for toiletries/dinner supplies.

However the issue is the overlords of the corporate ladder that pass down penalties on employees that dont even work in the same building/city/state as them. Even though I was an excellent worker and the bosses at the job loved me, the people higher up in the corporate ladder declared I had to be fired when I had too many sick days. Despite the fact that, A) the timeoff system was just revised and all the days I had saved up were reset to zero. B) On the last day I came in sick ready to work but was forced to go home by my boss. C) They dont accept Doctors Notes.


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MrMelodramatic posted...

125M but she only gets 300k? What!

Litigation is expensive!

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I voted no only because of the bullshit 300k cap.
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I voted no because fuck Walmart

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Full Throttle posted...

When she asked to adjust her schedule by 60 to 90 minutes to get back to her noon to 4pm shift, they fired her and then refused to rehire her

Fired simply for asking for a schedule change? Seems legit

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Wish I couldve gotten a buttload of cash when my old job decided to start fuckin around with my hours .__.

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Damn I wish I was incapable of work, I'd live on suing companies for my inability to perform.
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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Damn I wish I was incapable of work, I'd live on suing companies for my inability to perform.

It's not fun, believe me

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MrMelodramatic posted...

125M but she only gets 300k? What!

Legislated tort cap, any verdict above the cap gets rounded down to the cap even if it was only a penny over.

This is why tort reform is important, but you already tuned out when I said tort.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tort

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There's stuff like this all day where lawyers just live off of other people's cases like parasites. Sometimes it feels like much of the world is just scamming everybody and skulling in the shadows nervously while simultaneously grinning and looking deathly worried as if the universe is going to drop a meteor of justice on them.

That cap is some bullshit.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

Damn I wish I was incapable of work, I'd live on suing companies for my inability to perform.

they literally did the job for 16 years

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deoxxys posted...

As someone who worked for Walmart, its actually a great place to work. Easy work, nice hours, good pay, nice benefits, plenty of people in your age range to meet and get to know, convenience of not having to stop at the store on the way home for toiletries/dinner supplies.

However the issue is the overlords of the corporate ladder that pass down penalties on employees that dont even work in the same building/city/state as them. Even though I was an excellent worker and the bosses at the job loved me, the people higher up in the corporate ladder declared I had to be fired when I had too many sick days. Despite the fact that, A) the timeoff system was just revised and all the days I had saved up were reset to zero. B) On the last day I came in sick ready to work but was forced to go home by my boss. C) They dont accept Doctors Notes.

Good pay, lololololol
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There are wrongly imprisoned men that spend 2 decades in jail before being cleared by DNA evidence, and get less than 1/5 of that, so yeah that's fucking excessive.

Full Throttle posted...

who changed her work schedule and then FIRED her for chronic absenteeism!!

That is fucked up.

Full Throttle posted...

An 8 member jury in Green Bay sided with her and awarded a massive 125 million in punitive damages and an additional 150K in compensatory damages

Although that number will likely be reduced to 300,000 which is the maximum cap on damages in ADA cases as a Walmart Spokesperson said it doesn't apply to back pay, front pay, litigation costs or interests

Oo

And then one the costs are taken out, she's not getting much.

streamofthesky posted...

There are wrongly imprisoned men that spend 2 decades in jail before being cleared by DNA evidence, and get less than 1/5 of that, so yeah that's fucking excessive.

Less than 1/5 of 300k? >_>


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Mead posted...

they literally did the job for 16 years

Did different hours, ones no longer available.
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Zeus posted...

That is fucked up.

Oo

And then one the costs are taken out, she's not getting much.

Less than 1/5 of 300k? >_>

125 million

Question was if the amount awarded was excessive. Thankfully there's caps to the madness, but whatever jury awarded her that amount are off their fucking rockers.

Revelation34 posted...

I voted no only because of the bullshit 300k cap.

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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Did different hours, ones no longer available.

good job solving that one

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Most Walmarts are open 24/7, aren't they?

Kinda unlikely that the hours she had been working were "no longer available"

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Morale of this story, don't hire people with down syndrome.

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wolfy42 posted...

Morale of this story, don't hire people with down syndrome.

Weird takeaway

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Metalsonic66 posted...

Weird takeaway

I was mostly joking, and honestly you CAN'T not hire someone who has a disability if nobody else applies for the job at least, but honestly, corporations would be likely to infer something along these lines if enough cases like this happened and cost them significant amounts of money.

If you hire someone with a disability and even 1% of them sue you for millions (1% more then non-disabled employees that is), it could become not worth the cost to hire them and would make it less likely for them to be hired in the future.


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wolfy42 posted...

If you hire someone with a disability and even 1% of them sue you for millions (1% more then non-disabled employees that is), it could become not worth the cost to hire them and would make it less likely for them to be hired in the future.

The problem is they worked 16 years without a problem. And would have worked many more if they didn't change the schedule... It's not the employees that are causing the problem, but the person who thought it was ok to just straight up change her schedule...
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LinkPizza posted...

The problem is they worked 16 years without a problem. And would have worked many more if they didn't change the schedule... It's not the employees that are causing the problem, but the person who thought it was ok to just straight up change her schedule...

True, and I agree, but again, if it was not a person with a disability they would not have been sued. The person would just have been fired.

So while I totally think it's their fault (or at least that manager), the company over all may look at the risk inherent when hiring people with disabilities and avoid it in the future.

Not right, but that is how many companies work.

Meanwhile I'm glad for the girl, she had to work at walmart for 16 years, she deserves a payday.

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wolfy42 posted...

if it was not a person with a disability they would not have been sued.

They still might have been. Whether the person won or lost would be up in the air, though. But if it was a good enough reason, they could technically still win...

wolfy42 posted...

the company over all may look at the risk inherent when hiring people with disabilities and avoid it in the future.

This would get them sued, though... So, they won't do that. And even if they could get a way with it, it could turn more people away from them... Which is also a risk to profits...
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streamofthesky posted...

There are wrongly imprisoned men that spend 2 decades in jail before being cleared by DNA evidence, and get less than 1/5 of that, so yeah that's fucking excessive.

Zeus posted...

Less than 1/5 of 300k? >_>

Yep, if they manage to get anything at all.

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KodyKeir posted...

Yep, if they manage to get anything at all.

besides raped in jail.

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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Damn I wish I was incapable of work, I'd live on suing companies for my inability to perform.

Everyday you just show us more and more that you're just human waste.

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rexcrk posted...

Wish I couldve gotten a buttload of cash when my old job decided to start fuckin around with my hours .__.

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lihlih posted...

Good pay, lololololol

@lihlih
They do pay you well for an entry level job and the level of work you are expected to do.

Like all you have to literally do is show up to work and not slack off and you start off at $12 an hour.
Most of the time you arent even supervised. Also they will actually steadily increase your pay the longer you work. Also bonuses as well as benefits. Walmart really is no were as bad as people make it out to be.


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deoxxys posted...

@lihlih
They do pay you well for an entry level job and the level of work you are expected to do.

Like all you have to literally do is show up to work and not slack off and you start off at $12 an hour.
Most of the time you arent even supervised. Also they will actually steadily increase your pay the longer you work. Also bonuses as well as benefits. Walmart really is no were as bad as people make it out to be.

Are we pretending $12/hour is good pay now?

Lynyrd_Skynyrd posted...

Are we pretending $12/hour is good pay now?

Vs $7.25/hr? Yeah.

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Not with how much was taken out in fees.

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Good for her!

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deoxxys posted...

Vs $7.25/hr? Yeah.

Bruh, 12 bucks an hour is shitty as fuck. Can't believe anyone would call that good pay.
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$12 may be shitty, but deoxxys is right that its much better than minimum wage
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deoxxys posted...

Most of the time you arent even supervised

Aren't there like, dozens of cameras at Walmart

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Metalsonic66 posted...

Aren't there like, dozens of cameras at Walmart

Doesn't mean somebody is watching. Plus those cameras are for checking for shoplifters anyway.
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Revelation34 posted...

Plus those cameras are for checking for shoplifters anyway.

The camera's are there for "loss prevention", which disproportionately means using it as evidence to fire employees; the statistics on theft skew higher to the employee then to the shopper.

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KodyKeir posted...

The camera's are there for "loss prevention", which disproportionately means using it as evidence to fire employees; the statistics on theft skew higher to the employee then to the shopper.

So you're saying they use cameras to fire employees doing their jobs?
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Revelation34 posted...

doing their jobs?

That's a funny way to spell "stealing"

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Revelation34 posted...

So you're saying they use cameras to fire employees doing their jobs?

not just fire, they will also dock pay, and in the most extreme situations, build a case of grand larceny on the employee, unlawfully hold them on site while the employee is threatened with charges if they do not sign exit papers agreeing to a massive debt to the company to reimburse the company for all "loss" caused by the employee. A corporate entity can earn more money off hiring some people then they ever paid them during the length of their employment.

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$12/hr is lower than min wage here, but walmart starts at $18.50 here, so it seems like they pay more the higher the min wage is in an area.

$18.50 in this area is a very good entry level salary tbh.

Still wouldn't wanna work for walmart, but it's not horrid.


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Yeah five dollars is a big difference per hour.

Yeah the cameras arent really for making sure employees are doing their job it is more so for customers stealing.

wolfy42 posted...

$12/hr is lower than min wage here, but walmart starts at $18.50 here, so it seems like they pay more the higher the min wage is in an area.

$18.50 in this area is a very good entry level salary tbh.

Still wouldn't wanna work for walmart, but it's not horrid.

Sounds nice but I imagine the cost of living is a lot higher. Like how much is a gallon of milk? Its $2.71 for the walmart brand

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deoxxys posted...

Yeah five dollars is a big difference per hour.

Yeah the cameras arent really for making sure employees are doing their job it is more so for customers stealing.

Sounds nice but I imagine the cost of living is a lot higher. Like how much is a gallon of milk? Its $2.71 for the walmart brand

Cost of living is higher here, but you can usually get a gallon of milk for $2 here on sale (at safeway). I usually get it instead of a half gallon (which is all I actually need) since the half gallon is $1.60. That way there is extra if people come over to my house etc.


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Full Throttle posted...

she needed to maintain a rigid daily schedule as part of her condition that includes eating dinner at the same time every night

This sounds like something a 10 year old would say, Jesus Christ. She honestly should have been laughed out of court.

Reigning_King posted...

This sounds like something a 10 year old would say, Jesus Christ. She honestly should have been laughed out of court.

It mentioned that it was an ADA case. So, she probably had some kind of disability. And the change she was asking for wasnt unreasonable, either. It was moving it back like 60-90 minutes, I believe. And technically, having a rigid schedule like that is good for health, IIRC
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