|
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 |
|
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 |
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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, Laverne Jones, declare:
1. I began working at Wal-Mart in November
1977, as a Sales Clerk in the Pontotoc, Mississippi, Wal-Mart. From the beginning of my career, I
communicated to Wal-Mart management that I was interested in advancement within
the company and noted so on many of my annual evaluations under “career
goals.” I was promoted to Department
Manager in July 1978, and remained a Department Manager throughout my career.
Because I am a woman, Wal-Mart did not permit me to advance past Department
Management for twenty-five (25) years.
2. My job performance was rated as “above
standard” or “exceeds expectations” on nearly every annual evaluation that I
received in my twenty-five (25) years at Wal-Mart. I never received a rating less than “standard”
or “meets expectations.” The last
“standard” rating I received was over ten years ago, in 1991.
3. During my career at Wal-Mart, I never
received a written or verbal “coaching,” nor was ever I ever disciplined in any
form by management. Instead, I was
consistently praised in my evaluations for my productivity, initiative,
judgment, job knowledge, ability to work with others, appearance and
attendance. For example, in September
2002, I received my last performance appraisal from my supervisor, David
LeSueur. In 25 of 28 categories, I
received an “exceeds expectations” rating.
My rating was “meets expectations” for the other three categories. See
Associate Evaluation Form, Dated 9/10/02, a true and correct copy attached
hereto as Exhibit A. In 2002, I was
never absent, never late for work and remained 100% current on all of my
Computer Based Learning modules (“CBLs”). In fact, in twenty-five (25) years, I
missed work only twice: in 1986 when I gave birth to my son and in 1994 when I
had lung surgery.
4. I tried to enter the Management
Training Program every year for the first fifteen years of my employment and
was repeatedly discouraged by management.
My desire for advancement with Wal-Mart is documented by my comments in
my annual appraisals and conversations with Wal-Mart management. For example, in 1983, I wrote on my
evaluation that my career goal was “to move up in the company, such as the
asst. mgt.” See Associate
Evaluation Form, Dated 10/6/83, a true and correct copy attached hereto as
Exhibit B. In 1985, I
wrote that I “would like to advance with [the] company and be considered for
promotions whenever available,” and if “anything [is] available in office or
asst. mgmt., I would like to be considered . . . .” See Associate Evaluation Form, Dated
6/7/85 and Associate Evaluation Form, Dated 11/1/85, true and correct copies
attached hereto as Exhibits C and D.
5. I
spoke with many members of Wal-Mart management about my interest in promotion
over the course of my 25 years with the company. The following are typical examples of how my
requests for placement in the Management Training Program were received by
Wal-Mart management throughout my career:
a.. In 1986, District Manager Jim Crowe
denied my requests to be placed into the Management Training Program.
b. William “Bill” Wulfers, a former
Regional Vice President, told me in 1992 that I did not want to be in
management because Assistant Managers are required to move around the country,
and I did not want to relocate. However,
I told Mr. Wulfers that I was willing to relocate at that time in order to
become an Assistant Manager.
Furthermore, I was aware of many male trainees who stayed at my store,
because my store was known as a “training” store for management, or transferred
to stores in the immediate area that were within driving distance. For example, Brad Sullivan, a male who
entered the Management Training Program in 1990, was trained at my store, then
moved to another location in the area, within driving distance of
Pontotoc.
6. Despite my exemplary work history and
requests for promotion, less experienced men were continuously chosen for the
Management Training Program over me.
Adam Worthham worked at my store for less than one year before becoming
Department Manager and after serving just one year in that position, Mr.
Worthham joined the Management Training Program in 2001. Mr. Worthham trained in a store within
driving distance from Pontotoc, in West Point, Mississippi.
7. In November 2002, Coy Tutor, a male
employee who had only five years of experience in my store, was asked to enter
the Management Training Program, but declined.
At that time, I asked Sammy Sappington, a District Manager who, like me,
began working at Wal-Mart in 1977, if I could get into the Management Training
Program. District Manager Sappington
told me that I did not want to go into management because I had the best job in
the store and that I did not want anything else. He also told me that there were only a
handful of promotable people in the store.
When I asked why Mr. Tutor could join the program, Mr. Sappington
replied, “He’s a man, he doesn’t have a family.” That was his only explanation for why Mr.
Tutor was promotable, yet I was not.
8. In June 1997, I was part of a group of
female Wal-Mart employees, including Brenda Lipsey and Bonnie Ware, who used
the “open door” policy by contacting the Home Office with our concerns and
complaints of sexual and racial discrimination.
Part of our complaint was the fact that men were almost always put on
“support teams,” where they earned more money through a shift differential of
one dollar more per hour, while women were often overlooked for this
position. Cheryl Ford, from Wal-Mart
personnel, came from the Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas, to talk to
us. She said, “Don’t bother using your
quarter to call us. I can fire you,
without taking any steps, for using the open door.” My experience with Ms. Ford made me reluctant
to use the “open door” policy because of the fear of retaliation and further
confirmed for me that Wal-Mart was not concerned about discrimination in its
stores.
9. After twenty-five years of employment
at Wal-Mart, I received only one promotion, and that was six months after I
started working at Wal-Mart.
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
Mississippi that the foregoing is true and correct.
This
Declaration was signed by me on _______________________________, 2003, in the
City of ____________________________, State of Mississippi.
______________________________
Laverne
Jones
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