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JOCELYN
D. LARKIN (SBN 110817) THE
IMPACT FUND 125
University Avenue Berkeley,
CA 94710 Telephone: (510)
845-3473 Facsimile: (510) 845-3654 |
JOSEPH
SELLERS CHRISTINE
WEBBER COHEN,
MILSTEIN, HAUSFELD & TOLL West
Tower – Suite 500 1100
New York Avenue Washington,
D.C. 20005-3964 Telephone: (202) 408-4600 Facsimile: (202) 408-4699 |
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SHEILA
Y. THOMAS (SBN 161403) DEBRA
A. SMITH (SBN 147863) EQUAL
RIGHTS ADVOCATES 1663
Mission Street, Suite 250 San Francisco, CA 94103 Telephone: (415)
621-0672 Facsimile: (415) 621-6744 |
STEPHEN
TINKLER MERIT
BENNETT TINKLER
& BENNETT 309
Johnson Street Santa
Fe, New Mexico 87501 Telephone: (505) 986-0269 Facsimile: (505) 982-6698 |
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STEVE
STEMERMAN (SBN 067690) ELIZABETH
LAWRENCE (SBN 111781) DAVIS,
COWELL & BOWE 100
Van Ness Avenue, 20th Floor San Francisco, CA 94102 Telephone: (415)
626-1880 Facsimile: (415)
626-2860 |
DEBRA
GARDNER PUBLIC
JUSTICE CENTER 500
East Lexington Street Baltimore,
MD 21202 Telephone: (410) 625-9409 Facsimile: (410) 625-9423 |
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SHAUNA
MARSHALL (SBN 90641) HASTINGS
COLLEGE OF THE LAW 200
McAllister Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Telephone: (415)
565-4685 Facsimile:
(415) 565-4854 Attorneys for Plaintiffs |
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
I, Sue Brown, declare:
1. I have worked as a full-time sales
associate in electronics in Wal-Mart, Inc.’s store # 1269 in Louisville,
Kentucky, since October 1997. I have
never been promoted.
2. I am a retired school teacher with a
Master’s Degree.
3. My starting rate of pay at Wal-Mart was
$5.40. After 90 days, my pay was
increased to $5.70; at my first annual evaluation in September 1998 it went up
to $5.93; during my second year it was increased again to $6.24, and at my
two-year evaluation in September 1999, I got another increase to $7.05; in September 2000, at my three-year
evaluation, I got another raise to $7.35; and at my four-year evaluation, my
pay went to $7.64, and finally, at my five-year evaluation in September 2002, I
got another increase to $7.95.
4. Sometime in mid-2000, I discovered that
at least one of the high-school-age boys working in the electronics department
was making more money than I was. His name
is Ben Risner, then age 17. He was hired
by the General Manager, Martin Wagner, and I trained him in our
department. He told me he was making
more money than I was and had started at a higher rate than I was making at
that time. He recently told me that he
is now making $8.35.
5. In June 2000, I asked my department
manager, Judy Kuhn, why my pay was lower than a high school boy’s and she said,
“You don’t have the right equipment.”
When I asked what she meant by that, she said, “You aren’t male, so you
can’t expect to be paid the same.”
6. One young man in the department, Joe
[last name unknown], frequently used foul language and made lewd remarks in my
presence. I asked him to stop talking
like this in my presence, and he just said, “then don’t listen.” I complained to Ms. Kuhn, the department
manager, but she just said “boys will be boys” and did not talk to Joe. I spoke with a male Assistant Manager, Chris
Klein, who told me to put my complaint in writing, and when I did, he told me
to take it to the General Manager, Mr. Wagner.
He read it, laughed and said “whatever.”
None of these managers ever said they would talk with Joe, and as far as
I know, none of them ever did. He
continued to tell lewd stories in my presence throughout the time he worked
there.
7. I am required to clean and stock the
electronics department, but the boys working alongside me are not.
8. In July 2000, I asked my new department
manager, Janet Chandley, why I have these additional responsibilities, and she
told me that the boys’ main job is “to service the customers.” I believe that is my main job as well, but
only Barbara Bartley and I, the only female sales associates in the electronics
department, have these additional tasks, even though we have both worked there
longer than any of the young boys.
9. On or about June 15, 2001, I talked
with my department manager, Ms. Chandley, about getting a merit raise. I asked because I had learned from Ben Risner
that he and Alex Young, another very young man, had gotten merit raises, and
they were laughing and talking in my presence about having done nothing to
deserve them. I had been at Wal-Mart
almost four years and still was not making what these young men were making. Ms. Chandley told me that I probably would
not get the raise I asked for, because she was the department manager and even
her hourly rate was “lower than the guys’ in the department.”
10. A few weeks later, when I complained
again to Ms. Chandley about my pay being so much lower than the young boys’,
she told me that she could not help me because she herself was also paid less
than the male department managers in the store.
11. I was terribly discouraged by these
comments and, as a result, and because of my bad experience when I complained
about Joe’s inappropriate conduct, I did not talk with anyone other than my
department managers about the pay disparity.
12. Despite the fact that I have a Master’s
Degree and significant life experience, no one at Wal-Mart has ever encouraged
me to seek a management position. Until
January 2003, I had never seen any information in my store about a management
training program, and I am not aware of any women in my store who have gotten
into any program like that.
13. I did not actually see a description of
the management training program that was announced in January 2003. I was out during that month for two weeks due
to a severe sprained ankle, and when I returned to work, I saw a brief full
color announcement next to the time clock announcing a new management training
program for women and that application could be made on the store
computer. The announcement had not been
posted before I took my medical leave.
However, I soon learned that the deadline for applying had also passed
while I was on leave. If a longer
application time had been given, I could and would have applied when I returned
to work and saw the announcement.
14. I have personal knowledge of each and
every fact set forth in the Declaration, and if called to testify as a witness
in this matter, I could and would competently testify to each of these facts.
I
declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and State of
Kentucky that the foregoing is true and correct.
This
Declaration was signed by me on ______________________, 2003, at
_______________________.
______________________________