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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 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
I, Kathleen MacDonald, declare:
1. I am female. I am over 18 years of age, and competent to
testify in court. I have personal
knowledge of the facts contained herein, and could and would testify to them in
a court of law if requested to do so.
2. I
currently reside in Aiken, South Carolina, where I have lived for the last
twenty years. I have a certificate from
vocational school and a high school degree.
I also have prior retail and grocery experience. I worked at Kroger from 1988 - 1990 as a sales
clerk, stocker and cashier before going to work for Wal-Mart.
3. In1990,
I went to work for Wal-Mart in Aiken, South Carolina because I had heard from
some of my husband’s friends that Wal-Mart was a good company to work for. I applied for a position as a clerk, cashier
or stocker and was hired as a sales clerk for toys. Upon being hired, I was given an associate
handbook and told to read it. I did so.
4. During
the years I have worked at Wal-Mart, I have worked as an associate in the
housewares department; the pets and furniture department; the lawn and garden
department; the stationary department; the candy department; and as a checkout
clerk. Currently I work as an associate
in the candy department.
5. Since
joining the candy department as an associate, I have consistently received
“exceeds expectations” on my reviews. In
addition, I have specifically been praised in my reviews for my honesty. True and correct copies of some of these
reviews are attached hereto as Exhibits A and B.
6. At
my store, many male associates brag about their pay. It is against Wal-Mart policy to discuss pay,
but nevertheless these male employees have done so in my presence. Based upon their statements, in 1999, I
became concerned that I was being paid less than the men in the store, because
the pay they claimed to receive exceeded mine.
The men who have discussed their pay in my presence and stated that they
make more than me include “Bobby” (last name unknown), an associate who works
in the sporting department, “Wesley” (last name unknown), an associate who
works in the frozen foods department, John Cassimisina, who stocks paper goods
and chemicals, John Cooper, an associate who works in the lawn and garden
department, and Shane Jackson, a grocery stocker.
7. After
hearing these men talk, in 1999 I complained about the pay issue to my
Department Manager, Joel Batson. In
response to my complaint, he said “women will never make as much money as men.” When I asked why, he said “God made Adam
first, and so women would always be second to men.”
8. After
receiving this response from Mr. Batson, I relayed the story to Ms. Queenie
Turner, another associate at the store.
In response to my story, she told me that she had once complained about
her pay as compared to her male counterparts in the bakery department. Ms. Turner informed me that, after presenting
her complaint, she was told that men would be paid more because they were the
heads of household. Based upon these
responses, I decided not to pursue the matter further at the store level.
9. Around
that same time, there were several other women at my store who also complained
about the fact that it seemed we were making less money than the men at the
store, even though we were performing similar jobs and had similar levels of
experience. Women who complained
include: Ramona Hunt; Leanne Posten; Liz Boyd; Becky Benfield who was a former
cashier; Thelma Davis, also a former cashier; and Jerri Jackson, lawn and
garden dept manager.
10. Sometime
a few months after my conversation with Mr. Batson, but still in 1999, Mary
Smith, our Regional Personnel Manager, and Russ Berry, our District Manager,
came to the store to visit. At that
time, I and several others, including some of the women identified above,
raised with the two of them that we believed the women were being paid less
than the men for the same work. They
promised they would get back to us within 30 days about this issue. We never heard anything from them again on
the matter. Having complained as high as
the Regional Personnel Manager about the issue, I did not know whom else to
complain to, and thus did not raise the issue again for some time.
11. Two years later, however, we had a new Regional Personnel Manager, Gwen Cannon, who came for a store visit. This was in approximately June of 2001. Once again, I and several other women complained that we believed that we were being paid less than the men in the store. Gwen promised that she would look into the pay issue.
12. After this meeting with Ms. Cannon – and after this lawsuit was filed – I was given an 81 cent raise following an “internal wage analysis.” Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of my Associate’s Commendation Form. The internal wage analysis apparently confirmed that I was being paid less than I should have been.
13. I
was informed of the $ .81 raise by Tim Mallet, who was my store manager at the
time. He told me that the 81cent raise was not a merit raise, nor was it a cost
of living allowance raise. When I asked
him to explain why I was getting the raise, all he would tell me was that
Wal-Mart had determined I was “not at the level I should have been,” so I was
getting a raise. I was further told by
Mr. Torgeson, the District Manager, that I should not tell anyone about the
raise, because not everyone would be getting a raise. As a result of this raise, I went from
approximately $9.25 to $10.04 an hour.
Even after this raise, however, I still was not making as much as the
male grocery stockers were being paid.
I
declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of South Carolina
that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed this ___ day of ______, 2003 at _______, South Carolina.
_____________________________
Kathleen
MacDonald