There is currently a case before the Supreme Court - Dukes vs. Wal-Mart. It may not surprise you that this case has been going on for 12 years - since 1999. As I understand it, the question before the court today is not so much the discrimination, but whether or not 1.5 million women can sue as a "class". It could actually be dismissed, or at least sent back to square one, for this reason - not the documented discrimination.
It has been suggested that if the Supreme Court rejects the suit, perhaps some companies are just too big to be held accountable.
I agree.
Several years ago I was shopping at the Wal-Mart in Ruston. I came out to the parking lot to find the taillight on my car broken and all the pieces laying on the ground. This nice young man came up to me and proceeded to tell me what caused this mishap with my car.
He was a part-time Wal-Mart employee (aren't they all?) and his job was to use a type of mechanical thing to gather all the shopping carts left by customers in the parking lot. The line of carts can become quite long. Well, it seems the long line of carts got away from him and he hit my car. That simple.
He said all I needed to do was go inside the store and file a report. Simple enough. He came along with me and I met with the Asst Mgr (are there any actual managers?) who asked me to complete a form with my name, etc. There was a place for me and the employee to explain what happened, but the Asst Mgr said this wasn't necessary and that was that.
We went together out to the parking lot and she took photos of my car, said she'd file it with their insurance company, and in the meantime I should get an estimate on repairing it.
At the time I was commuting a couple of hours per day so going without a taillight really wasn't an option so I took it as soon as possible and had it repaired. It cost around $300. Not a huge amount, but it was damage I hadn't caused myself!
I mailed the invoice to the insurance company as instructed. After a few weeks we got a call from the insurance company stating that the claim was denied because there was no record that the damage to my car actually happened in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Really?
So I contact the insurance company and explain the circumstances and that the mishap did indeed happen in the Wal-Mart parking lot. They agree to look into it. In a few days, another Asst Mgr asks me to come by the store so he can have a look at my car. I do this and I am appeased once again that he will contact the insurance company.
Soon after, the insurance company calls to tell me the claim is in fact denied. Seriously? I asked that the videotape from the parking lot camera (you know they all have one) be viewed as proof that it had in fact happened in that parking lot. I was told the footage had been erased. I asked about the photos the Asst Mgr took that day, but they were nowhere to be found. I asked about the nice employee who admitted he caused the damage. I was told he had recanted his story. It was unbelievable really.
There was nothing more we could do.
Ironically, we ran into that young employee now working for Lowe's. He said he was told by Wal-Mart management to deny the incident if he was ever asked about it again. He said he would tell the truth if we wanted to pursue it. We didn't.
This experience remains a constant reminder to me that some corporations really are too big to be held accountable. With the best lawyers money can buy on the payroll they can wear you down until you give up. Short of us hiring a lawyer for way more than the original $300 damage, we had to move on.
They wore us down and we gave up. That simple.
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