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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, Shirley
Ervine, declare:
1.
I have personal knowledge of each and every fact set
forth in this Declaration, and if called to testify as a witness in this
matter, I could and would competently testify to each of these facts.
2.
I was employed by Wal-Mart, Inc. at Store No. 2099 in
Paso Robles, California from August 8, 1994 through September 11, 2001. I am female.
3.
At the time of my application toWal-Mart for
employment, I had significant retail management experience running garden
centers. On my application and during my
initial interviews, I expressly requested work in the garden center. I was told that a male had already been hired
as head of the garden department so that this position was not available to me.
4.
After I was hired, Wal-Mart initially assigned me to
the fabric department. During the seven
years I worked at the Paso Robles store, the fabric department was comprised
exclusively of female associates and there was never a male department
manager.
5.
My initial rate of pay was $6.00 an hour. After my
90-day review, I was given a 25 cent raise so that I was now earning $6.25 an
hour. During that first year, I was
moved from the fabric department to the toy department to the garden
department. In May 1995, I was given a
merit raise of 25 cents for my excellent performance in the garden
department. In July 1995, I received an
“above standard” rating on my first annual evaluation and was given a 40 cent
raise. This brought my pay rate to $6.90
an hour.
6.
While I was working in the garden department, I
learned through the grapevine that the department manager, Steve Romo, was
being moved out. The garden department
manager was the position that I had first applied for. I still wanted it very much so I took my
resume to Assistant Manager Michael Denham and told him that I was interested
in the position. The job was not posted
and I did not know any other way to make my interest in the position known.
7.
Despite having given my resume to Assistant Manager Denham
and telling him expressly that I wanted the position and despite my excellent
performance in the garden department, I was never interviewed for the job. Instead it was given to Troy Clark, a newly
hired male associate who appeared to be about 25 years old. At the time, I had more than five years
previous experience working in garden centers, including two years as Assistant
Manager at Pacific Home Improvement, three years as a sales associate for
Pacific Coast Garden Center, seasonal work with Tree Man, and approximately one
year as a cashier at the Mirimar Naval Air Station, which required knowledge of
the various plants and garden products sold.
8.
In approximately September 1995, Assistant Manager
Debbie Smith informed me that the department manager position was open in the
pets department and asked me if I wanted the position. The job was not
posted. I did not formally apply for the
position or interview with anyone. I just
told Assistant Manager Smith that I wanted the position and that is how I became
department manager over the pet department.
I received a 60 cent raise so that my hourly rate as a department
manager was $7.50.
9.
In approximately May 1996, Store Manager Mike Martin
asked me if I would be department manager over the garden department after the
current manager moved out of that position.
The job was not posted and I did not formally apply for the position or
interview with anyone. I just told Store
Manager Martin that I would accept the position and that is how I finally
became department manager in the garden department. The Associate Commendation Form approving
this move states “Shirley is being given another challenge of taking on dept.
16 because of the hard work you (sic) have done. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
(True and accurate copy attached as Ervine Exhibit A) I received a 50 cent raise with this move
which brought my hourly rate to $8.00
10.
One of my responsibilities as the garden department
manager was selling soil, bark and statuary. This merchandise arrived by truck
on pallets and needed to be unloaded in a corral. This often required the use of a
forklift. During my employment at
Wal-Mart, I observed many men being trained to drive the forklift, including
but not limited to Assistant Manager John Gatlin, associates Marvin Lee and
Harry Balsom, and associates Abel [last name unknown], Billy [last name
unknown] and OJ [last name unknown] who were overnight stockers. When I asked Store Manager Nick Sigala to
allow me to be trained on the forklift, he refused.
11.
After Store Manager Sigala denied me training to
operate the forklift, I sought and obtained operator safety certification on my
own from the company that serviced Wal-Mart’s forklift, Graylift. (True and accurate copy attached as Ervine
Exhibit B.) When I gave a copy of my
Certificate of Achievement to Store Manager Sigala, he threw it on the desk and
told me to leave his office. Throughout
the time I ran the garden center, Store Manager Sigala continued to deny me
training on, and use of, the forklift.
As a result, I was forced to find a male associate to unload the pallets
of soil, bark, and statuary from the delivery trucks whenever the delivery
trucks did not provide that service.
During the seven years I was employed at the Paso Robles store, I only
observed one female associate operate the forklift and she was the Overnight
Assistant Manager.
12.
During the time I was garden department manager, the
Home Office in Bentonville recognized
the Paso Robles garden center as No. 1 in the Company for sales of Rubbermaid
Sheds and awarded the garden center $500.
On January 26, 1998, Divisional Vice President Kendall Schwindt sent me
a letter of congratulation, informing me that I had been selected to represent
my district in the company-wide Lawn and Garden Seminar in Kansas City,
Missouri. (True and accurate copy attached as Ervine Exhibit C.) At this end-of-the-year meeting, the Paso
Robles garden center was listed as No. 1 in the Company for sales of Murray Log
Splitters. I found it ironic that my
Divisional Vice President considered me qualified enough to represent my
district at a nation-wide company seminar while my Store Manager did not think
me capable of operating a forklift.
13.
In July 1996 and July 1997, I received “above
standard” performance evaluations as garden department manager. In July 1998, I was ranked as
“standard.” However, despite my
consistently good performance during these three years and the superior ranking
of the Paso Robles garden center when I was the department manager, I received
only one merit raise for 25 cents an hour and what I considered to be only
meager annual raises: 40 cents, 43
cents, and 37 cents, respectively. After
four years with Wal-Mart, my pay rate was still under $10 an hour at $9.55.
14.
In approximately April or May 1999, TLE Manager Jill
Sinclair asked me if I was interested in becoming a support manager in the Tire
Lube Express center. This is an hourly
position. I applied for this position on
the computer. I interviewed with TLE
Manager Sinclair and she later informed me that I received the position plus a
50 cent raise, which brought my hourly rate to $10.05.
15.
During the two years I worked in the TLE center, I was
ranked either “above standard” or “meets expectations” on my evaluations but
the annual raises I received were still less than I felt I deserved based on my
performance: only 50 cents and 44 cents, respectively. I also received two merit raises, one for 25
cents and the other for 35 cents. After
six years with Wal-Mart, my pay rate was $11.59 an hour.
16.
The TLE support manager position is the highest
position I held with Wal-Mart and the last time anyone “tapped” me for
promotion.
17.
None of my store managers ever talked to me about
Wal-Mart’s Management Training Program or offered me any other promotions. There was nothing posted anywhere in the
store that informed interested employees on how to apply for management
training or management opportunities.
The Management Training Program was not discussed at the daily store meetings
I attended. I never saw any application
or was told how to apply for the Management Training Program or any other
management opportunity.
18.
When I first became a Wal-Mart employee, I had retail
management experience and I was interested in management opportunities at
Wal-Mart. I was excited about making a
career with a company as successful as Wal-Mart, a company in which I owned
stock. However, after observing the number of assistant managers and management
trainees assigned to the Paso Robles store and the frequency with which they transferred
to other stores, I learned that Wal-Mart required its store level managers to
relocate. Because I owned a home, had
three children and a husband, I was not able to relocate.
19.
When a female management trainee who was visiting our
store asked me how high in the Company I was planning on going, I told her a
support manager position because they did not have to move. This woman did not refute my understanding of
the relocation requirement and she definitely did not inform me that Wal-Mart
had a “resident assistant manager” program that provides for the training and
promotion of assistant managers within the same store.
20.
I did not learn about the “resident assistant manager”
program until sometime in 2001, the last year of my employment with Wal-Mart. I learned about the program through the
grapevine, not by having observed an Assistant Manager become an Assistant
Manager through the resident assistant manager program. By then, I had become so disillusioned by the
way I had been treated and the lack of opportunities for women at Wal-Mart that
I decided there was no future for me there.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and State of __________________ that the foregoing is true and correct.
This Declaration was signed by me on ______________________, 2003, at _______________________.
______________________________
Shirley Ervine
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