BRAD SELIGMAN (SBN 083838) 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
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
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
STEVE STEMERMAN (SBN 067690) ELIZABETH LAWRENCE (SBN 111781) DAVIS, COWELL & BOWE 100 Van Ness Avenue, 20^th 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

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

BETTY DUKES, PATRICIA SURGESON, CLEO PAGE, CHRISTINE KWAPNOSKI, DEBORAH GUNTER, KAREN WILLIAMSON AND EDITH ARANA, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, vs. WAL-MART STORES, INC., Defendant

Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ DECLARATION OF DAWN HITTLE IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

I, Dawn Hittle, declare,

1. I make this declaration on the basis of my personal knowledge and, if called as a witness, could and would testify competently to the facts in it.
2. I was hired as an assistant manager trainee in the Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania Wal-Mart Store in 1993 after completing my Masters’ Degree in Business Administration. I was 26 years old when I joined Wal-Mart. In the seven years that I worked for Wal-Mart Stores, I worked in five stores in three states (Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Connecticut). My hope in joining Wal-Mart was to be able to use the skills and knowledge I had gained through my Masters’ Degree to become a store manager. Despite years of hard work and persistence and consistently positive evaluations, that hope was never realized.
3. After six months as an assistant manager trainee, I was promoted to assistant manager in the Fairhaven, Connecticut store in June 1993. I was hopeful that this promotion was the first step toward becoming a store manager. During my September 1993 evaluation, I told Store Manager Chris Vaden (male) and District Manager Kerry Harmon (male) that I would like to work toward a promotion to store manager. In the career goals section of my evaluation, I wrote: “[i]n the next four to five years, I would like to take on the responsibility of a store manager.” Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of my September 1993 Management Performance Appraisal and Commitment to Success evaluation.
4. In my January 1994 evaluation, I again expressed to Store Manager Vaden and District Manager Harmon my desire to gain the training necessary to eventually become a store manager. I described my long-term goals as wanting to “learn more about the responsibilities of running a store,” and I wrote that “I would eventually like to run my own store.” Attached hereto as Exhibit B is a true and correct copy of my January 1994 Management Performance Appraisal and Commitment to Success evaluation. Although both Vaden and Harmon were positive about my work in their remarks in my evaluation, no efforts were made to provide me with any training.
5. In May 1994, I asked to be transferred to the new Seekonk, Massachusetts Wal-Mart Store because I believed that the experience of opening a store would help me in my quest to become a store manager. Store Manager Scott Ahrens and District Manager Tony Nardozi both approved the transfer, but then, abruptly and without explanation, transferred me to the Norwich, Connecticut store. Because I was told of the transfer on such short notice, I had no time to move and had to commute 80 miles each way (a three hour daily commute) for three months until I was able to sell my condominium. After a few weeks at the Norwich store, it became clear to me that the Norwich store was in trouble and Store Manager Becky Foy told me that I was part of a new management team that was to revamp the store.
6. In my October 1995 evaluation, I wrote, “[m]y career goals consist of [moving] from assistant to store manager to district and beyond.” Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of my October 1995 Wal-Mart Store Manager/Assistant Manager Performance Appraisal. Again, I received no real encouragement and no direction in how I could gain the skills and experience necessary to becoming a store manager.
7. In March 1997, I initiated a transfer to the new Wal-Mart Store in Branford, Connecticut, in order to get the experience of opening a new store. I hoped that the skills I gained would assist me in eventually becoming a store manager. While working at this store, I spoke several times with Store Manager Billy “Chip” Boyles about my desire to become a store manager. As I noted in my March 1997 evaluation, “my intention is to run a store soon and if improving in these areas will me get there, that’s what I intend to do.” Attached hereto as Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of my March 1997 Management Performance Appraisal. Again the next year, I wrote in my yearly evaluation that I would like to be considered for a store manager position: “I intend to run my own store within a reasonable amount of time.” Attached hereto as Exhibit E is a true and correct copy of my February 1998 Management Performance Appraisal.
8. While Assistant Manager in the Branford Wal-Mart Store, I was called in on my day off to help with inventory at another Connecticut Wal-Mart Store. There were about seven managers scheduled to work this inventory, which entailed preparing the inventory throughout the store to be counted. I was one of only two female assistant managers. After several hours, I noticed I was the only one left working in the receiving area. The male managers and associates also assigned to help with inventory were not in the store. Soon after, they came into the store after having spent the last hour playing basketball in the back lot rather than working.
9. During that time, I applied for about ten store manager positions through the Wal-Mart internal computer system, but received only two interviews. Eight times I did not get a call about an interview, or even a call telling me I had not gotten an interview. And the two times I did get an interview, no one ever followed up to tell me whether or not I got the job. All ten jobs were filled by men.
10. I went on maternity leave in June 1999. While on leave, I was promoted to co-manager for the Cromwell, Connecticut store, and began to work in that position when I returned in January 2000. I understood that this position would be a training period. I would work alongside the store manager in order to develop some of the skills needed to run a store. Although I was confident that I had most of the skills necessary to become a store manager already, I was excited that my interest in becoming a store manager was finally being recognized and I was greatly looking forward to learning whatever other skills Wal-Mart felt I needed in order to advance. However, my hopes were soon crushed. As co-manager, I did not learn any new skills and essentially performed secretarial tasks, such as opening mail and filing. The store manager, Travis McNail, was new to his job and was unable to provide me with any real training on critical management functions.
11. While I was a co-manager, I applied twice for open store manager positions, but did not get either position. I also discovered that I was receiving the lowest amount allowed ($43,000) for co-managers. I believed that, with seven years of experience as an assistant manager, I should have been paid more. Frustrated that I was not making any progress within the company, I resigned in May 2000.

I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and of the State of Connecticut that the foregoing is true and correct.

This declaration was signed by me on _______________, 2003 at Clinton, Connecticut.

____________________________________

Dawn Hittle