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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, Lori B. McCarthy, 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 am female. I
graduated from Florida State University in April 1991 with a degree in clothing
and textiles.
3.
Prior to working for Wal-Mart Stores, I held positions
as Intern for Neiman Marcus, Assistant Manager for Strawberry Fields, and
Salesperson for Publix Supermarket, Coles Meat Wine & Cheese Shop, and
Jordan Marsh.
4.
Following my graduation from college, I had a ten-year
career with Wal-Mart Stores from May 20, 1991 through August 31, 2001.
5.
Throughout my tenure at Wal-Mart, I consistently
received high ratings on my performance evaluations. I was asked to relocate eight times during my
career; I did so because I believed it would increase my chances of being
promoted to Store Manager. Nevertheless,
between 1999 and 2001, my eighteen applications for Store Manager positions all
were denied.
6.
I entered the Manager Training Program in 1991 at the
Fort Walton Beach, Florida Wal-Mart.
Following my training, my supervisor commented in my performance
evaluation that I would make an “excellent member of management.” Attached
hereto as McCarthy Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of my Management
Trainee Ten Week Performance Appraisal and Plan of Action, dated August 19,
1991. I was promoted to Assistant
Manager of the Fort Walton Beach Wal-Mart in August 1991.
7. I transferred to the Destin, Florida Wal-Mart in January 1992. My District Manager, Jerry Neal, frequently came into the Destin store to discuss business matters such as finance, budgeting, and profitability with the male Store Manager. He also included male Assistant Manager, Robert Browning, in these conversations. Although I expressed an interest in participating, Mr. Neal excluded me from these discussions.
8.
Mr. Neal transferred me to the Sunrise, Florida
Wal-Mart in August 1992. As the only
female Assistant Manager at the Sunrise store, my two Store Managers, Steve
Mastaler and Gary DeCoque, treated me more harshly than the other Assistant
Managers. Mr. DeCoque scheduled me for
overnight shifts, criticized the stockroom for which I was responsible, and
generally was more abrupt with me than my male colleagues. In 1993, Mr. Mastaler denied my two-week
vacation request for my honeymoon. I
complained to my District Manager, Steve Daniel, about this because I knew
another male employee [name unknown] who had been granted a two-week leave for
his vacation. However, Mr. Daniel supported
Mr. Mastaler’s decision and denied my request for a two-week leave.
9.
While at the Sunrise store, Mr. Mastaler commented on
my performance evaluation, dated February 11, 1993, that I would be ready for a
Co-Manager position in two to three years.
Attached hereto as McCarthy Exhibit B is a true and correct copy of my
Management Performance Appraisal and Commitment to Success. Similarly, on a performance appraisal dated
September 30, 1993, Mr. DeCoque stated that in two years I would be ready for
my own store. Attached hereto as
McCarthy Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of my Management Performance
Appraisal and Commitment to Success. Mr.
DeCoque later noted on my performance appraisal dated February 17, 1994, that I
had a good future with the company and was “an asset to the store.” Attached
hereto as McCarthy Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of my Management
Performance Appraisal and Commitment to Success.
10.
In April 1994, Mr. DeCoque transferred me to the
Pompano Beach, Florida Wal-Mart. Eight
months later, I requested a relocation to the Florence, South Carolina
Wal-Mart. I believed moving to South
Carolina would help me get promoted to Store Manager because two of my former
colleagues, then District Manager Ron Cook and Store Manager Robert Browning,
were located there. I felt that their
familiarity with my previous work would increase my chances for a promotion to
Store Manager in the near future.
11.
I was not promoted during the sixteen months I spent
at the Florence store. In January 1996,
I told my new District Manager, Jerry Cole, and my Regional Personnel Manager
[name unknown] that I wished to transfer back to Florida. Five months later, after I consistently was
told there were no available positions, I contacted District Manager Steve
Mastaler in Florida directly. Mr.
Mastaler said there was an open position and I transferred to the Port St.
Lucie, Florida store in May 1996.
12.
I was promoted to Co-Manager of the Port St. Lucie
store in November 1997, after six years as Assistant Manager. My Store Manager, Jeff Smith, and I spoke a
number of times about my interest in promotion.
On my Management Performance Appraisal dated March 1, 1997, Mr. Smith
stated that I was “ready to be Co-Manager [and I have] the capacity to be a
Store Manager, or higher, with Wal-Mart.”
Attached hereto as McCarthy Exhibit E is a true and correct copy of my
Management Performance Appraisal. During
a regional team visit in 1997, Mr. Smith recommended to Mr. Mastaler and the
Regional Vice President, Arthur Emanuel, that I be promoted to Co-Manager. I witnessed Mr. Mastaler shake his head
vehemently against this suggestion. Mr.
Smith also submitted a letter on my behalf that stated my “training was 100% up
to date, [I] had participated in three store set ups, [I was] involved in store
activities, [I] show that [I] care for the associates, and [I] participate in
the community.” Attached hereto as McCarthy Exhibit F is a true and correct
copy of this letter. Mr. Emmanuel
approved my promotion.
13. After
I received my March 31, 1998 evaluation, Mr. Smith told me that Mr. Mastaler
had instructed him to lower my performance score because the score that Mr.
Smith initially gave me was too high.
Mr. Smith gave me a copy of the evaluation he originally prepared, which
had a performance rating of 4.23. In the
copy that I received from Mr. Mastaler, my rating dropped to 3.68. Attached hereto as McCarthy Exhibit G are
true and correct copies of the Management Performance Appraisal Mr. Smith gave
me and the Management Performance Appraisal Mr. Mastaler gave me.
14. In
August 1998, Mr. Mastaler transferred me to the Stuart, Florida store. By early 1999, I felt I was ready to manage
my own store. I asked Mr. Mastaler about
what I needed to do to be promoted to Store Manager. He responded that I should “lower my voice
because it sounded too high.” He did not
elaborate when I asked for further clarification.
15. By April 1998, I had posted sixteen
applications for Store Manager on Wal-Mart’s Management Career Selection
system. In the spring of 1999, my
Regional Personnel Manager, Ethan Minkel, contacted me regarding my recent
applications for promotion to Store Manager.
While he did not offer me my own store, he told me accepting the
Co-Manager position at the Florida City store would be good move forward for my
career at Wal-Mart. He stated that the
position in Florida City would enable me to learn more about the process of
opening a new store as well as give me the opportunity to work in a
Supercenter, which would improve my chances of promotion.
16.
Heeding the advice of my Regional Personnel Manager, I
accepted the Co-Manager position in the Florida City, Florida store in July
1999. Wal-Mart sent me to the Home
Office for three days to learn basic information about opening a store;
however, I received no formal training when I arrived in the Florida City
store.
17. My Store Manager at the Florida City
store was Monte Marshall. Mr. Marshall
often left me out of business discussions that he had with the other male Co-Managers
in the store, Steve Pugh, Victor [last name unknown], and Mike Williams. Similarly, District Manager Dave Chmura
ignored me and only discussed business issues with the Store Manager and the
male Co-Managers. I voiced my concern
about this lack of attention to Mr. Chmura in 2000, but he did not change his
behavior.
18.
Unbeknownst to me, Mr. Chmura administered Associate
Opinion Surveys on two separate occasions to associates in the Florida City
store. Only 36 of the roughly 213
employees I supervised offered feedback.
Despite the lack of associate response, Mr. Chmura told me that I had
received poor ratings from those who I supervised and that someone with my
scores should receive a demotion. His
actions shocked me because this was the first coaching I had received after
nearly ten years at Wal-Mart Stores and because I previously had been praised
for my strong people skills. Although I
was not demoted, I felt he treated me unfairly because he was not following
Wal-Mart’s disciplinary procedures.
Attached hereto as McCarthy Exhibit A, Exhibit E, Exhibit H, Exhibit I,
and Exhibit J are true and correct copies of my Management Performance
Appraisals.
19.
After my coaching with Mr. Chmura, I met with my
Regional Vice President, Rose Reza, to discuss my concerns. Ms. Reza confided in me that there were
obstacles to overcome working with men at Wal-Mart and there was little I could
do to change my situation. She
recommended that I learn how to work within the system.
20.
In January 2001, my District Manager, Freddie Miller,
asked me to go to the Miramar, Florida store to assist with hiring new
associates. Although the Miramar store
was significantly farther away from my home, almost 70 miles, I agreed to help
temporarily.
21.
In 2001, I expressed to District Manager Miller my
desire to run my own store. Mr. Miller
responded that he would not promote me because he did not know me well
enough. He also stated that he probably
would promote Mike Williams, a Co-Manager with less experience than me, to
Store Manager simply because Mr. Miller was better acquainted with Mr.
Williams.
22.
Despite my previous assertion to Mr. Miller that I did
not want to transfer permanently to the Miramar store, he transferred me
without my knowledge. I learned of this
when I went online to apply for the Store Manager position at the Florida City
store and discovered that I was not listed as a Florida City store
employee. When I approached Mr. Miller
about this, he informed me that he no longer needed three Co-Managers at the
Florida City store. I told Mr. Miller,
as well as my Regional Personnel Manager at the time, that I wished to be
placed at a store closer to home.
23. I remained at the Miramar store from
March 2001 through August 2001. My Store
Manager at the Miramar store, Roosevelt Jackson, left the store two months
after I began working there. I applied
for the open Store Manager position, but Mark Kurkin, Co-Manager of the
Hialeah, Florida Supercenter, received the position instead. Mr. Kurkin previously had worked closely with
Freddie Miller.
24. I
resigned from Wal-Mart stores on August 31, 2001. In my resignation letter, I stated that I was
“leaving the company for various reasons but the main reason [was] my company's
lack of confidence in me to be a Store Manager.” Attached hereto as McCarthy Exhibit K is a
true and correct copy of my resignation letter.
I declare under penalty of perjury
of the laws of the United States and the State of Florida that the foregoing is
true and correct.
This Declaration was signed by me on
______________________, 2003, in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
______________________________