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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 CHARLES
TOMPKINS JULIE
GOLDSMITH 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
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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
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Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ DECLARATION OF BRENDA HOULE IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR
CLASS CERTIFICATION |
I, Brenda Houle,
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 was
employed by Wal-Mart, Inc., in the Supercenter Store
in Hazelton, Pennsylvania from November 6, 1996 until May 2000. I am female.
3.
I was hired by Wal-Mart as a cashier.
I was successful at every level of my employment, I never received any
write-ups or discipline, all of my evaluations were good and I received many
awards. The awards I received were Outstanding Performance,
August 24, 1999; first place VPI Winner for store 2255 in February 2001; and
Third place VPI Winner for District 326 in February 2001. The VPI award is given
for proving your marketing skills by picking the item that had the highest
sales for one month. Despite
this proven record of success, I was never offered any position higher than
Department. Manager. I became a
Department Manager in 2002 after applying for the job. I was told that I did such a great job in the
Seasonal Department that I deserved the promotion.
4. In 1997, while I was working in the Hazelton store, a man
named Ed Kelly trained for six weeks there to be a Co-Manager. He sexually propositioned me when I was
resetting Register 2. He said he was
lonely, and told me he was staying at the Genett’s
Hotel on Route 93. He told me his room
number and said, “Let’s get together.” I
did not go to his hotel room. The
following day, Co-Manager Kelly came to me and said, “You did not show up last
night.” I ignored him since he was
leaving the store in two weeks at the conclusion of his training.
5. In June 2000, Ed Kelly returned to the Hazelton store as
Store Manager. One of the first things
he did was ask Traci Davis, the Customer
Service Manager on duty, if the “British girl” was still working at the
store. Ms. Davis then came to me and
told me that Ed Kelly was asking about me.
When Mr. Kelly saw me, he made sexual comments and when I did not
respond, he verbally abused me. He told
me I would not make it into management, that I was not ready. In April 2001, Store Manager Kelly said to me
“You know you don’t need floor experience to make management, you need
willingness.” Based on his prior sexual comments to me, I understood that Mr.
Kelly would block any promotion for me because I was not willing to submit to
his sexual advances.
6. I made a point of telling every manager in my store that my goal was to be promoted to management. District Manager John Donaldson and Assistant Store Manager Ben Kanour promised me in October 2000 that I would be promoted to the Assistant Manager Training Program in January 2001. In January, I asked about my promotion. In a meeting with Robin Ripple, Co-manager, Mr. Donaldson said I was not ready for management training. He said that Ms. Ripple would help me progress towards management. I was devastated. Soon afterwards, Matthew Gaydos, a young male associate from Electronics who had just returned to Wal-Mart in March 2001 after a year of working for another company, was promoted to the Assistant Manager Training Program. Unlike me, he had no previous experience in management. I had management experience as staffing coordinator in charge of the nursing staff at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs for one year before moving to Pennsylvania.
7. I reported Mr. Kelley's conduct to District Manager John Donaldson, Assistant Store Manager Ben Kanour and Co-Manager Robin Ripple. Mr. Kanour told me that I needed to change locations because of Mr. Kelly. There was no investigation of which I was aware. No action was taken to change Mr. Kelly’s conduct nor was any other action taken to protect me. I am unaware of any response to my use of the Open Door, other than Mr. Kanour’s suggestion that I leave.
8. Linda Student, Department Manager of Infants, told me she was also being propositioned by Ed Kelley at the same time he was propositioning me.
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9. After being denied the promotion to
Assistant Manager, I requested a leave of absence in March 2001 due to my
husband’s poor health, but it was denied. I then requested a transfer to the
St. Claire, Pennsylvania store to get away from Mr. Kelly. However, the long drive to St. Claire was too
much, especially with my husband in failing health. I requested a transfer back
to the Hazelton store, but Mr. Kelly told me that there were no openings and
that I was not coming back to that store.
Consequently, I resigned.
I declare under penalty of
perjury of the laws of the United States and of the State of Pennsylvania, that
the foregoing is true and correct. I signed this on April _____, 2003 in White Haven, Pennsylvania.
_______________________
Brenda Houle