Consumerist has a detailed report about a worker, who was fired from his job at Wal-Mart, based on a comment he left on MySpace:
The exact quote said “Drop a bomb on all the Walmarts, trailer parks, ghettos, monster truck shows, and retarded fake “pro wrestling” events, and the average I.Q. score would probably double.” This was a silly statement, but in no way was a threat as Walmart said and used as reason for my termination and denying my unemployment benefits. On my “Exit Interview” they checked Gross Misconduct - Integrity Issue (which they describe as: Theft, Violent Act, Dishonesty, or Misappropriation of Company Assets) as the reason I was fired. They wrote on the exit interview that it was a threat posted on website; which it clearly is not.
Consumerist provides a more more detailed account from the fired employee. The comments on the story provide an interesting debate and look at employee vs. employer rights, and how far the line extends outside of the workplace.
We live in a digital age and we have to be careful what trace of our lives we leave online.
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Wal-Mart faces more legal problems ahead. Today, the New Jersey supreme court has certified a class action lawsuit against the retailer for claims that the retailer denied workers’ meal breaks, forced them to work off the clock, and forced them to work on the breaks.
More from Forbes (NJ Court Certifies Wal-Mart Class-Action) and the Asbury Park Press (Wal-Mart to face New Jersey class-action pay suit).
This is probably not a good thing for Wal-Mart, as they have previously lost similar class action lawsuits in Pennsylvania and California (I talked about the PA verdict last year). These kinds of cases are a reminder to all other retailers that they have to stay on top of labor practices, and more importantly, they are responsible for what their store-level management is doing. I’m sure Wal-Mart is not the retailer that is at fault, but these high profile cases send ripples through the industry.
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This week, a jury in Pennsylvania awarded $78 million to plantiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart. The jury found, after deliberating for two hours, that Wal-Mart was at fault for making employees miss breaks, cut breaks short, and work without pay. Coverage via Bloomberg and The Writing on the Wal.
This is the second multi-million dollar settlement against Wal-Mart for unfair labor practices in the past year. Last December, a California jury awarded a $172 settlement against Wal-Mart, citing Wal-Mart with failure to provide meal breaks for 200,000 employees (see: Wal-Mart Struck with $172M Lunch Tab).
Wal-Mart, in their defense, has posted a statement on their website, Wal-Mart Facts, about the most recent case (see: Statement on Hummel case). They say that these cases, and others in various stages of litigiation across the country, revolve around allegations from several years ago. They’ve upgraded their systems and technology in-store to avoid having this happen again. That’s great, but that still doesn’t make things right for what may have happened within the past few years, prior to installing new systems.
The thing to consider is how a case like this can send echoes throughout the entire retail industry. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer, and one of the largest companies in the world. Any time Wal-Mart has a large lawsuit or verdict in the press, be it about keeping employees off the clock, locking in employees overnight, or discriminating against minorities, I’m sure most other retailers are checking and rechecking their policies to ensure they aren’t open to face similar litigation.
Every one of these lawsuits against Wal-Mart is a wake up call to the rest of retail.
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