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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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IRMA
D. HERRERA (SBN 98658) 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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SHEILA
Y. THOMAS (SBN 161403) EQUAL
RIGHTS ADVOCATES 5260
Proctor Avenue Oakland,
CA 94618 Telephone: (510) 339-3739 Facsimile: (510) 339-3723 |
DEBRA
GARDNER PUBLIC
JUSTICE CENTER 500
East Lexington Street Baltimore,
MD 21202 Telephone: (410) 625-9409 Facsimile: (410) 625-9423 |
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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 Attorneys for Plaintiffs |
SHAUNA
MARSHALL (SBN 90641) HASTINGS
COLLEGE OF THE LAW 200
McAllister Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Telephone: (415)
565-4685 Facsimile: (415) 565-4854 |
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
I am a woman and a former employee of
Wal-Mart.
I worked at a Wal-Mart store in
Watertown, South Dakota, from July 2, 1990, to August 18, 2001. I worked in the Watertown store both as an
hourly employee and later as a Resident Assistant Manager. I had no difficulty managing employees with
whom I previously had worked as an hourly employee.
As detailed below, I received less
thorough training than the male Assistant Managers I trained and worked with,
resulting in lower evaluation ratings and lower annual pay increases than the
male Assistant Managers received. Two
male Assistant Managers in the Watertown store made more money than I did, both
as trainees and as Assistant Managers, even though I had substantially more
experience as a Wal-Mart employee and as an Assistant Manager than they had.
I started at Wal-Mart as a Cashier in
1990. In 1992, I was selected by an
Assistant Manager to train as a Customer Service Manager in recognition of my
excellent performance as a Cashier. The
position of Customer Service Manager was not posted, and I do not remember
being interviewed for the promotion. My
promotion to Customer Service Manager sparked my interest in management
positions at Wal-Mart. I wrote on my
1992 annual evaluation, “I am interested in how more [store] areas work
together and why.” (True and correct copy attached hereto as DeWall Exhibit
A.) In 1994, I applied for promotion to
Head Customer Service Manager. The
position was posted, and I was chosen for the position after an interview with
an Assistant Manager. In 1995, I was
selected by Store Manager Charlene Walls for promotion to Support Manager, an
hourly supervisory position. That
position was not posted, and I was not interviewed.
During the years I worked as an hourly
employee, I received eight merit raises, in addition to my annual pay
increases. Store Manager Charlene Walls
recognized that I was an asset to the company and in 1997 she wrote on my
evaluation that I was ready for the Management Training Program. (True and correct copy attached hereto as
DeWall Exhibit B.) I had never seen a
written description of the Management Training Program, and I had falsely
assumed that the Management Training Program required a college degree, which I
did not have. Store Manager Walls explained to me that a college
degree was not a requirement.
Store Manager Walls also told me about
the Resident Manager Program, whereby I could be an Assistant Manager in the
Watertown store, rather than relocating to another area. Watertown has been my home since 1975. My family and I have many ties there,
including my husband’s job as Deputy County Sheriff. After I
learned about the Resident Manager Program, I was eager to be a manager at
Wal-Mart. I interviewed with Store
Manager Walls and District Manager Pam Casey in 1998, and I entered the Management
Training Program in June or July 1998.
I was not allowed to do my training at
the Watertown store. Instead, I was
assigned to a store in Brookings, South Dakota, which is about an hour’s drive
from my house. I was not trained in the
merchandising aspects of being an Assistant Manager. I was only trained in office procedures. I did not request to not be trained in
merchandising. The lack of training I
received in merchandising is reflected in my “Management Training Final
Performance Appraisal Form,” which states “no training in merchandising B only offices.”
(True and correct copy attached hereto as DeWall Exhibit C.)
I went back to the Watertown store as
an Assistant Manager in August 1998. In
early 2000, Ben Hoffmann was promoted from Management Trainee to Assistant
Manager at Watertown. Mr. Hoffmann had
worked as an hourly employee and as a Management Trainee at the Brookings
store, which I know because he worked there as an hourly employee when I was a
Management Trainee in Brookings. Mr. Hoffmann
was allowed to train for management in the same store where he had been an
hourly employee. In contrast, I was
required to commute two hours every day to do my training in Brookings. I did not receive any extra compensation for
the time I spent traveling.
I have learned that Mr. Hoffmann earned
a higher salary as an Assistant Manager, even though he had less experience as
a Wal-Mart employee and as an Assistant Manager than I had. In about March 2001, I had two and a half
years’ experience as an Assistant Manager, and my monthly salary was
approximately $2,800. At the same time,
with only one year’s experience as an Assistant Manager, Mr. Hoffmann’s monthly
salary was approximately $2,900. (See Affidavit of Attorney Brad
Seligman, filed herewith.)
I was an Assistant Manager at Watertown
for three years. I spent 30 of those 36
months on the overnight shift. I did not
receive any extra compensation or “shift differential” for working an overnight
shift. No male Assistant Manager who I
worked with during those three years spent as many months on the overnight
shift as I did. Because I rarely worked
day shifts, I was denied training that the male Assistant Managers
received. Specifically, I was denied
training in merchandising responsibilities, supervising Department Managers,
and other duties of a day Assistant Manager.
I was criticized on my annual evaluations for not knowing the duties of
a day Assistant Manager – including the “Store Within A Store” program – but it
was impossible to learn those duties on the night shift. (True and correct
copies of two relevant performance evaluations attached hereto as DeWall
Exhibits D and E.) When I complained to
Store Manager Scott Ferguson about my schedule, he told me he was not going to
make any changes. My lengthy assignment
to overnight shifts led me to believe that I was not being groomed for a
long-term management position at Wal-Mart, in contrast to the male Assistant
Managers with whom I worked, who received more thorough training than I did.
In 2001, Store Manager Ferguson
formally disciplined me for keeping three associates at work for an extra two
hours each to cover for two employees who had called in sick. I believed the write-up was unfair. I used the “Open Door” and spoke to District
Manager Steve Hanselman, who instructed Store Manager Ferguson to retract the
write-up. After I complained to District
Manager Hanselman, Store Manager Ferguson retaliated against me by threatening
to take away my status as a Resident Assistant Manager and transfer me to Sioux
Falls, South Dakota, which is almost a two-hour drive from my home. Store Manager Ferguson’s threat to transfer
me to Sioux Falls made it seem like the position of Resident Assistant Manager
existed at the whim of management and was not an official Wal-Mart program.
After Store Manager Ferguson retaliated
against me for using the Open Door with District Manager Hanselman, I never
used the Open Door Policy again, even though I was frustrated by the length of
time I had been assigned to the night shift.
I eventually left Wal-Mart in August 2001, out of frustration over my
schedule and my inability to get the training necessary to get higher
evaluation ratings and higher pay raises.
After leaving Wal-Mart I got a job at
First Premier Bank Card. I have received
two promotions, and I am currently a top-level customer service associate.
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
South Dakota that the foregoing is true and correct.
This Declaration was signed by me on
______________________ (month and day), 2003, at
__________________________________________ (city and state).