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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) 626-2860 Attorneys for Plaintiffs |
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
I, VIVIAN
CALIMEE, declare that:
1.
I make this statement on the basis of my personal
knowledge and, if called as a witness, could and would testify competently to
the facts herein. While employed by
Sam’s Club, I have also used the name Vivian Bowie.
2.
I was hired to work for a Sam’s Club in Joliet,
Illinois in 1988 as a Sales Representative at $7.00 an hour. In 1990, in order to become an assistant
manager, I was required by General Manager Louis Johnson and my Director of
Operations [name unknown] to relocate to a Sam’s Club in Madison,
Wisconsin. Since 1990, in order to
maintain my position as an assistant manager, my General Managers and/or Directors
of Operations have required me to relocate to several Sam’s Clubs, including
those in Streamwood, Illinois, Naperville, Illinois, Matteson, Illinois and
Joliet, Illinois. I understood that I
did not have a choice but to transfer to wherever management required.
3.
My evaluation ratings have always been “met
expectations” or “exceeds expectations.”
4.
Since I started at Sam’s Club, I was interested in
advancing my career into management. As
early as 1991, I began expressing an interest in management to my
supervisor. In my 1991 evaluation, I
wrote that “I would love the opportunity to become Regional Marketing
Director.” Attached hereto as Exhibit A
is a true and correct copy of my Management Performance Appraisal and Plan of
Action signed on August 2, 1991.
5.
The following year, I wrote, “My goal is to become a
Gen. Mgr. within a year…” Attached
hereto as Exhibit B is a true and correct copy of my Management Performance
Appraisal and Plan of Action dated December 4, 1992.
6.
Even though I was not promoted as I had hoped in 1992,
I continued to believe that, with hard work and perseverance, I would reach my
career goal of becoming a general manager.
In my 1993 evaluation, I again wrote that my goal was to “[b]ecome a
General Manager within a year.” Attached
hereto as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of my Management Performance
Appraisal and Plan of Action dated July 28, 1993.
7.
Beginning in 1995, I regularly spoke with Director of
Operations Brian Collins during my evaluations about my desire to move up in
management. In my 1995 evaluation, I
again wrote that my goal was “[t]o be promoted to Gen. Mgr. this year or
begin[ning] of 1996.” Attached hereto as
Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of my Assistant Coach Performance
Appraisal and Commitment to Success dated June 6, 1995. I also had many informal meetings with Mr.
Collins asking him for advice about what I could do to advance in my
career. He once told me to learn
operations and keep up with the merchandise.
I followed his advice to the letter assuming that these extra efforts would
finally bring me a promotion. Again, I
was disappointed.
8.
In 1995, I spoke with Regional Marketing Manager Gina
Schieck during my evaluations and in various informal conversations about my
interest in advancing in my Sam’s Club management career. I also expressed concern to Ms. Schieck that
I felt I was being blocked from further advancement. I told her I was not sure why I had not been
promoted above an assistant manager position, despite having an excellent record
and consistently expressing my interest over several years. She reassured me that she would assist me but
gave me no specific advice or information about how I would be able to
advance. I am not aware of any actions
that she took to assist me after this conversation.
9.
By 1996, I had been very vocal with several members of
management about my desire to move up in management at Sam’s Club. In a meeting with both General Manager Jeff
Kulesa and Director of Operations Mr. Collins, I expressed concern over why I
had not yet moved up in management, despite having been an assistant manager
for six years and having an excellent record.
I expressed frustration that, had I been promoted when I should have
been, I would have been making more money and would have been much more
advanced in my career. Shortly after
this meeting, I received my first and only coaching for what Mr. Kulesa called
a “lack of follow-up” and “lack of urgency.”
I later heard from a male Assistant Manager [name unknown] that he had
overheard a conversation between Mr. Kulesa and Mr. Collins about me and
specifically about my repeated requests to move up in management. This assistant manager told me that, in this
exchange, Mr. Collins suggested to Mr. Kulesa that I receive a write-up to “cool
[me] down.”
10.
In 1998, while I was working as an assistant manager
in the Naperville, Illinois Sam’s Club, the General Manager Gilda Amoroso-Eboli
quit and I was told to assume her responsibilities for several months. The store also had no co-manager and I
assumed these responsibilities as well.
I spoke with Director of Operations Collins when he visited the store
about my interest in the open co-manager position. Despite having been an assistant manager for
eight years and having successfully fulfilled my duties as acting co-manager
and general manager, a male, Ron Suggs, was brought in from another store to
fill the co-manager position. He was a
good friend of Mr. Collins.
11.
In 1999, Trip Gannon replaced Brian Collins as the
Director of Operations. I spoke with Mr.
Gannon about my interest in being promoted, including my goal of running my own
store as a General Manager. Mr. Gannon
told me that if I wanted to be promoted, I would have to prove myself to
him. I felt this was unfair because I
had spent the previous nine years proving myself in my position as an Assistant
Manager and I had an excellent record.
12.
By 2000, I had been an Assistant Manager for 10
years. Despite repeatedly expressing an
interest in moving into a general manager position since 1992, I had not yet
been promoted. In my 2000 evaluation I
again wrote, “I look forward to becoming a General Manager in the near
future.” Attached hereto as Exhibit E is
a true and correct copy of my Sam’s Club Performance Planning and Review for
Business Manager dated March 10, 2000. I
continued to regularly speak with Mr. Gannon about my interest in becoming a
general manager. I told him that I felt
I was being blocked from advancing in my career and that I did not feel
listened to or supported. Mr. Gannon
promised me he would look into my concerns but he never got back to me.
13.
Feeling that my own supervisors were
indifferent to my concerns, I decided to speak with the Director of Operations
of a different region, Bob Miller. I set
up a meeting with him but he failed to show up, later claiming that he had
forgotten about it. I then scheduled a
second meeting with him. When we finally
met, I told him about my interest in moving up in management and running my own
Sam’s Club as a General Manager. He told
me that he liked my attitude and spirit but he did not commit to helping me,
only stating that he needed more time to get to know my skills. I also asked whether there was anything I
could do to improve my chances for a promotion.
Mr. Miller told me that, with my character and ambition, I would become
a General Manager “soon.” It was
frustrating to me that those to whom I had expressed an interest in advancing
in my management career continued to be promoted and replaced so that I was
left having to prove myself over and over to each new group of supervisors.
14.
Later in 2000, I learned that the General Manager
position of the Joliet, Illinois Sam’s Club was open. I spoke with Director of Operations Collins
about my interest in the position but he told me it was not my “time” yet. He told me, “timing is everything.” I did not understand what he meant by that,
especially since I had been an Assistant Manager already for 10 years. I finally asked him what was it about me he
did not like. I told him I had done
everything he asked me to do, including implementing programs, learning about
operations, etc. In desperation, I
asked, “What more could I do?” Mr.
Collins was vague and unresponsive. This
was extremely discouraging to me, especially when I found out that a less
qualified male, Rodney Crockett, got the General Manager position. Less than six months later, Mr. Crockett left
but, before I even knew the position was open, another male, Duane Ebach, got
the position. The position was never
posted and I did not have an opportunity to express my interest. I complained to the new Director of
Operations, Larry [last name unknown], who told me there was nothing he could
do about it because it had been decided before he came. I contemplated complaining to a higher level
of management but I continued to be concerned about retaliation and did not
want to risk it.
15.
During my time as an assistant manager, I trained
males who were hired after I was and who were promoted to co-manager and
general manager positions while I was being told it was not “my time” yet. They included Dave Tanner, the General
Manager of the Joliet, Illinois Sam’s Club, whom I trained while we were in
Matteson, Illinois, and Billy Herod, the General Manager of a Sam’s Club in
Detroit, Michigan, whom I trained in 1989 in Joliet, Illinois.
16.
In 2000, I injured my back while carrying boxes at the
Joliet, Illinois Sam’s Club. I have had
to take several leaves of absence and, as of February 2002, I have been unable
to work due to this injury. In May 2002,
my doctor released me for light duty, but I was told that Sam’s Club would not
take me back until I was fully healed. I
am currently not employed.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and of the State of California, that the foregoing is true and correct. I signed this on _____________, 2003 in _____________.
____________________________________
Vivian Calimee, Declarant