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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, Rene Harkins, declare:
1. I am a 39
year old female living in Old Fort, North Carolina. I worked at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.’s Sam’s
Club store in Asheville, North Carolina from June 20, 1998 until June 1, 2002,
when I resigned from my job. I have been
subjected to gender discrimination by Wal-Mart with regard to promotions. I have also experienced differential
treatment from Wal-Mart because of my involvement in this lawsuit.
2. I joined
Sam’s Club initially as an Associate Cake Decorator in the Bakery Department at
a starting wage of $7.50 per hour. After
working as a Cake Decorator for approximately one year, I applied for a
position as, and was hired for, a Team Leader position in the Bakery Department
in approximately June, 1999.
3. In
February or March, 2000, I met with David Prince, the Fresh Merchandise
Manager, and told him that I was very interested in becoming the Bakery
Manager. Mr. Prince responded that I
would have to prove myself to get the position.
I also told Larry Miller, the Regional Manager, and Elliot Neilan, the
Store Manager, of my interest in the Bakery Manager position. Mr. Miller and Mr. Neilan ignored my
requests.
4. After
working as a Bakery Team Leader for approximately one year, Sam’s Club
transferred the Bakery Manager to another store. Because there was a vacancy in the Bakery
Manager position, Sam’s Club assigned me to perform the Bakery Manager’s duties
as well as the Bakery Team Leader duties in the summer of 2000. Sam’s Club did not formally promote me into
the Bakery Manager position or even give me a merit raise for the extra work
that was required of me. I still only
made my hourly wage, which at that point in 2000 was approximately $9.00 per
hour.
5. I worked
two jobs as the Bakery Team Leader and filling in for the Bakery Manager job
without any training for approximately six months. Finally, in the early part of 2001, Tangela
Griffin, the Merchandise Manager, trained me for the Bakery Manager position
for approximately seven months. Ms.
Griffin told me that I would officially become the Bakery Manager and join the
salaried management team at Sam’s Club.
During the seven months that Ms. Griffin trained me for the Bakery
Manager position, she repeatedly told me that I was doing a great job and that
I would become the Bakery Manager once I had completed the training.
6. To my
great surprise, however, in approximately December, 2001 or January, 2002,
Sam’s Club decided to promote Randy Peek, a male employee who had been working
as a Produce Team Leader, into the Bakery Manager position. Mr. Peek had no experience in the Bakery
Department and certainly had no experience in bakery management.
7. David
Prince, the Fresh Merchandise Manager, and Larry Miller, the Regional Manager,
made the decision to promote Mr. Peek over me to the Bakery Manager’s job. These men never interviewed me for the Bakery
Manager’s job, even though they were aware that I was being trained for the
position in question and was doing a good job.
I consistently received performance reviews and evaluations that were
rated four or higher on a one-to-five scale, with five being the highest
rating.
8. For about
10 weeks following Mr. Peek’s promotion, I was tasked with the humiliating job
of training him into the Bakery Manager’s position – the job I had been told
was going to be mine. I feel that I was
not given a fair chance to be promoted to the Bakery Manager job and that Mr.
Peek received the job simply because he was a man.
9. I have
also been subjected to differential treatment by Sam’s Club as a result of my
involvement in this lawsuit. In
approximately March or April, 2002, I sustained a fracture to my foot that was
unrelated to my job, and my doctor placed a walking boot cast on my foot. My doctor gave me a medical release to return
to work, but when I showed up for work after receiving medical treatment, Ms.
Griffin, the Merchandise Manager, refused to allow me to work until my
cast was taken off. Sam’s Club treated
my foot injury differently than they treated other people’s similar injuries –
including Donna Justice, a female Receiving Manager, who was allowed to work
while using crutches – and a similar injury that I previously sustained. I believe that Sam’s Club mis-applied their
policies in an effort to further discriminate against me. Moreover, Sam’s Club also completely failed
to process my disability paperwork for my 2002 foot injury. In fact, to this day I have not received any
disability payments for the time Sam’s Club refused to allow me to work.
10. I resigned
from Sam’s Club on June 1, 2002. I had
lost hope that I would ever be promoted into a salaried management job at Sam’s
Club when I saw the company decide to promote Mr. Peek to the Bakery Manager
job around me. Since that time, Sam’s
Club made it clear to me that I was not wanted as an employee and used
differential treatment to make my work environment unpleasant.
11. Sam’s Club
continued to retaliate against me even after I had resigned. Sam’s Club repeatedly failed to provide
information to my new employer concerning my dates of employment, which
resulted in a delay in the commencement of my work at my new job. It was not until I complained to Kevin James,
a Wal-Mart Vice-President, that Sam’s Club provided this information to my new
employer.
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 North Carolina that the foregoing is true and
correct.
This
Declaration was signed by me on ______________________, 2003, at
___________________________, North Carolina.
______________________________
Rene Harkins