|
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 |
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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)
581-8922 Facsimile: (415) 557-7895 |
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
I, Irma Mathis, declare:
1. I am a current Wal-Mart employee.
2. I am a forty-three year old, single mother of
three daughters, who are ages 15, 17 and 19.
I am also helping to raise my grandchild who is three years old. I want to be a role model for my daughters so
that they will believe that they can get ahead in life. While working at Wal-Mart, I attended college
and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at San
Antonio. I have been trying to turn my
job at Wal-Mart into a career.
3. I worked for Wal-Mart as an hourly employee
from January 1996 until August 2002.
During that time, I worked as a cashier, as a sales associate in the
softlines, domestics/bedding, fabrics, sporting goods, electronics, claims,
courtesy desk and lay-away departments, and as layaway department manager. I worked in Wal-Mart store no. 458 in Aransas
Pass, Texas, Wal-Mart store no. 1198 in San Antonio, Texas, and in a Wal-Mart
Supercenter no. 2864 in San Antonio, Texas.
3. I have tried to contribute to Wal-Mart in
ways that go beyond the requirements of my position. While I was layaway department manager in
store no. 1198, I compiled layaway procedures from Wal-Mart’s Home Office into
a training manual for the layaway employees and made checklists to assist them
in learning the material. In Supercenter
no. 2864, I volunteered to serve on the hiring committee. During set up of that store, I oversaw two
teams and took responsibility for training new employees. For approximately one year, two co-workers
and I wrote a newsletter for the employees in Supercenter no. 2864.
4. I received annual performance evaluations
while working at Wal-Mart. On each of my
annual evaluations, I was rated either “above standard” or “meets
expectations.” I have not been
disciplined for my work performance.
5. I worked at Wal-Mart for more time than many
of the other employees at Supercenter no. 2864.
Store Manager Mark Antilley repeatedly referred to me and several other
female employees as the store’s “seasoned associates.”
6. In approximately late 2000 or early 2001, I
decided that I wanted to enter the First in Line training program. The First in Line program is a management
training program for college students. At
the time, I was studying at the University of Texas, so I believed that I would
fit into the program well.
7. I had many discussions with Store Manager
Mark Antilley about my interest in being promoted into the First in Line
program. On one occasion, Mr. Antilley
told me that I needed to develop “people skills.” I do not know what he meant by that. I had overseen the work of other Wal-Mart
employees as layaway department manager and during the store set-up. I was not disciplined or reprimanded for having
a problems working with these employees.
Mr. Antilley did not tell me what “people skills” I lacked or how I
should go about developing “people skills.”
On another occasion when I spoke to Mr. Antilley about getting promoted
into the First in Line program, Mr. Antilley told me that I needed to work as a
merchandise department manager. I had
already worked as manager of the layaway department. On one occasion, I asked Mr. Antilley for
information about the First in Line program.
Mr. Antilley told me that he would talk to District Manager Ron Kircher
to find out how the program worked and get back to me. Mr. Antilley never got back to me. On an occasion when I approached Mr. Antilley
for help getting into the First in Line program, Mr. Antilley told me that he
would give a copy of my resume to Regional Personnel Manager Pedro
Androtti. I gave Mr. Antilley a copy of
my resume, but did not hear anything.
After giving him my resume, I followed up with Mr. Antilley. He always told me that he did not have any
information for me.
8. In spring 2002 after Plaintiffs’ attorneys disclosed
my name as a witness in this case, I contacted Regional Vice President Larry
Williams by email. Because I was
scheduled to graduate from college in August 2002, I was concerned that I would
not be eligible for the First in Line program any longer. In that e-mail message, I told Mr. Williams
about the problems that I was having getting into the First in Line
Program.
9. In response to my e-mail message to Mr.
Williams, a manager from Wal-Mart’s People Division named Jill Wesbecher
telephoned me. Ms. Wesbecher described
the First in Line program to me and gave me some information about Wal-Mart’s
other Management Training Program.
Shortly after my telephone conversation with Ms. Wesbecher, Regional
Vice President Pedro Androtti called me.
Mr. Androtti told me that he had not received a copy of my resume and
asked me to send one to him. In
approximately June or July 2002, I was accepted into the First in Line
program.
10. After I was promoted, but before I
transferred to the store where I was to do my training, Store Manager Mark
Antilley spoke to me about the fact that I had contacted Wal-Mart’s regional
management. Mr. Antilley was visibly
upset. He told me that store issues
should be kept at the store level. He
also told me that I would have to prove my loyalty to my new Store Manager.
11. Other than myself, I am aware of only one
female employee who was promoted into one of Wal-Mart’s management training
programs from Supercenter no. 2864. I am
aware of six male employees who were promoted into a management training
program from Supercenter no. 2864. Their
names are Roland Pacheco, Chad Brooks, Anthony Hall, Frank Gonzalez, Jason
Caldwell, and Henry Diaz. As far as I am
aware, none of these men had worked for Wal-Mart for as long as I had.
12. Store Manager Mark Antilley told me that
women have to be “bitches” to survive in Wal-Mart management. I received a performance evaluation in
approximately October 2000. In the
section entitled “areas for improvement,” I am described as “overbearing.” A true and correct copy of this evaluation is
attached hereto as Mathis Exhibit A. In
approximately November 2002, I had a conversation with an Assistant Manager named
David Ash. Mr. Ash told me that I needed
to be more assertive.
13. I completed the First in Line program and am
currently an Assistant Manager. As my
first assignment as an Assistant Manager, I am working the overnight shift at a
store that is located forty-six miles from my home. Driving over ninety miles daily and working
during the night prevents me from
spending as much time with my daughters as I would like. I am making these sacrifices because I want
to have a career at Wal-Mart.
14. 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
Texas that the foregoing is true and correct.
This
Declaration was signed by me on ______________________, 2003, at
_______________________.
______________________________