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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, Anna Dobbs, declare:
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.
2. I began working for a Wal-Mart Store in
1979 in Aberdeen, Mississippi as a sales associate in the Fabric Department
making about $3.00 an hour. I was 20
years old and this was my first full-time job.
I hoped to have a long-term career at Wal-Mart and always had the goal
of advancing into management. I was
department manager of Health and Beauty Aids in the Aberdeen Wal-Mart from
approximately 1981 to 1992.
3. In 1992, I voluntarily transferred to the Amory, Mississippi Wal-Mart Supercenter because I thought this experience would be better for advancement in my career at Wal-Mart. Store Manager Bobby Shumpert told me I was responsible for the duties of both support manager and department manager of Health and Beauty Aids.
4. After I transferred to the Amory
Supercenter in 1992, I began speaking with both Store Manager Shumpert and
District Manager Eddie Williams about my interest in moving into management
training. Mr. Williams told me that I
would be required to relocate to Philadelphia, Mississippi to complete the
training. I observed that Wanda Watkins
was sent to Alabama for management training and, like myself, had a great deal
of difficulty transferring back to the Amory or Tupelo stores even where
positions became available.
5. I also know of several male employees who
worked in the Amory Supercenter and were allowed to complete their management
training and remain as assistant managers in the same store. Keith Sanders, Chuck Holcomb, and Carl
Hayward all trained in the Amory Supercenter and remained there as assistant
managers.
6. In 1995, 16 years after I started my
career with Wal-Mart, District Manager Williams allowed me to enter the
management training program because I agreed to relocate to Philadelphia,
Mississippi. I left my 14 year old son
and 74 year old mother behind in Amory in order to relocate to Philadelphia,
Mississippi for management training.
When I began the training program, Mr. Williams agreed to pay me a
salary of $23,000. When I told him that
that was less than what I made as a department manager with overtime, he
offered me $24,500. I accepted. After I completed the program, I found out
that the starting salary for an assistant manager trainee at that time was
$27,500. I had always been told that I
could be fired for discussing salary issues so I was afraid to tell anyone that
I had been significantly underpaid.
7. When I entered the management training
program in 1995, Mr. Williams assured me that, after training, I would be
allowed to return to a Wal-Mart store that was closer to my teenage son and
elderly mother. Six months later, when
my training period was ending, assistant manager positions opened in two
separate Tupelo, Mississippi stores, both of which would have been closer to my
family. I asked Mr. Williams to be
transferred to either store but he placed males Cornelius Thomas, Jeff Miller,
and Joe Carter as the assistant managers in those stores. Jeff Miller was hired off the street to fill
one of these assistant manager positions.
8. I remained as an assistant manager in the Philadelphia, Mississippi Wal-Mart for almost two more years. In 1997, I was finally allowed to transfer to one of the Tupelo Wal-Mart Stores that was closer but still 50 miles away from my family. I continued to ask Store Manager Howard Brandon and District Manager Williams about returning to the Amory, Mississippi Wal-Mart. At one point, Mr. Williams told me that if I didn’t stop asking, he would ship me so far away that I would never get home. I was surprised by the forcefulness of this statement, especially since previous to my entering the management training program, Mr. Williams seemed supportive of my desire to work in a location that was close to my family. This statement intimidated me from asking for a while but finally, in 1998, three years after entering the management training program, I was allowed to transfer to the Amory, Mississippi Wal-Mart Store as an assistant manager. Within nine months, however, Mr. Williams transferred me again to another Tupelo, Mississippi Wal-Mart Supercenter. Based on Mr. Williams’ previous attitude about my transfers, I did not believe I had a choice but to accept this transfer.
9. I had originally been very interested in
pursuing a store management position and throughout my time as an assistant
manager in Philadelphia and Tupelo, I was often sent to other stores in Alabama
in order to help them straighten stockrooms and set up stores for perpetual
inventory. When we were severely
shorthanded, I consistently worked 60-70 hours a week overnights unloading
pallets off of trucks. My performance
evaluations also reflected my hard work and I regularly received exceptional
reviews. I always believed this was an
indication that I was doing an excellent job and was headed in the right
direction for advancement into store management. Even so, Mr. Williams continued to verbally
criticize my performance and often told me I should “just resign.”
10. I finally realized that, without District
Manager Williams’ support, even after 20 years of hard work and commitment, I
would never be given the opportunity to advance in my career at Wal-Mart. As a result, I decided to retire from
Wal-Mart in 1999 and obtain work elsewhere.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and State of Mississippi that the foregoing is true and correct.
This Declaration was signed
by me on ______________________, 2003, at Aberdeen, Mississippi.
_____________________________________
Anna Dobbs