Wal-Mart bows to pressure, does the right thing.
Wal-Mart bows to pressure, does the right thing.
Wal-Mart Watch reports, “After years of hounding Debbie Shank and her family, Wal-Mart says it will finally do the right thing.” The Shank family, about whom ThinkProgress reported on earlier today, will be allowed to keep the money they won from the trucking company responsible for Debbie’s injuries. Jim Shank released this statement:
I am grateful that Wal-Mart has seen their error and decided to rectify it. I just wish it hadn’t taken them so long, this never should have happened. I sincerely hope no other family ever has to go through this.
My thanks go first and foremost to my lord and savior Jesus Christ for the strength to bear up under all this. Thanks also to the citizens of the United States – it wasn’t me who made this happen, it was the outcry of the people, and if there’s a lesson in this story it’s that ‘we the people’ still means something.
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Olbermann Wages ‘Nightly,’ ‘Indefinite’ Battle Against Wal-Mart For Suing Brain-Damaged Employee
Olbermann Wages ‘Nightly,’ ‘Indefinite’ Battle Against Wal-Mart For Suing Brain-Damaged Employee
Eight years ago, Wal-Mart employee Debbie Shank was hit by a semi-truck, leaving her severely brain damaged and confined to a wheelchair. Last September, her son was killed in Iraq — a fact she has to be constantly reminded of since the accident left her virtually without any short-term memory.
Wal-Mart paid for her medical fees, but after Shank won $1 million from a lawsuit against the trucking company, her former employer sued her to recoup its medical expenses, despite the fact the settlement left her only $417,000 after legal fees:
But a clause in the retailer’s benefits agreement says the store can recoup medical fees paid if an injured employee receives damages from a lawsuit. Wal-Mart, which earned more than $11 billion in profits last year, sued Shank for $470,000, and won.
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann has begun a campaign against Wal-Mart, tagging the company one of his “Worst Persons in the World” for four straight nights. Olbermann says he will keep reminding people of “what they’re supporting when they go to Wal-Mart. And we’ll do it nightly, and indefinitely.”
Watch a compilation of Olbermann’s “Worst Person” designations for Wal-Mart:
Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley, who called Debbie Shank’s case “unbelievably sad,” said in a statement: “Wal-Mart’s plan is bound by very specific rules. … We wish it could be more flexible in Mrs. Shank’s case since her circumstances are clearly extraordinary, but this is done out of fairness to all associates who contribute to, and benefit from, the plan.”
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