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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 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,
Denise Mott, declare:
1. I am female and a former employee of Wal-Mart.
2. I worked at several Wal-Mart stores in Alabama and Florida
from November 2, 1992 until January 11, 2002.
I successfully completed four years of courses in finance at Troy State
University while working at Wal-Mart.
Throughout my career at Wal-Mart, I expressed interest in joining the
Management Training Program to several different managers, and I even moved my
home after I was told that would help my chances to join the Management
Training Program. However, I was never
promoted. I was told of false
prerequisites which I met but which did not apply to men. Meanwhile, I saw men less qualified than me
join the Management Training Program.
3. I started working as a Cashier at a store in Dothan,
Alabama, soon after I graduated from high school. Shortly thereafter, I began to attend Troy
State University part time in the evenings, working towards a degree in
finance.
4. In early 1993, I applied for a lateral transfer to the Cash
Office. The position was posted by the
time clock. I was not interviewed, but I
received the transfer.
5. In about 1994, I told the Store Manager, Bill Abercrombie,
that I was interested in the Assistant Manager Training Program. Store Manager Abercrombie told me that a
four-year degree was required to join the training program. This conversation occurred while Mr.
Abercrombie was counting deposits with me in the Cash Office. I also told him during my next annual review
that I was still interested in management training. He again told me that I needed a four-year
college degree.
6. Store Manager Abercrombie never told me about the First In
Line program, which is a company-wide program for college students to complete
the Management Training Program while completing their college degrees. Mr. Abercrombie knew I was in college because
I told him several times while we were discussing my work schedule and class
schedule. I never saw any information
about the First In Line program at the store.
Had I known that I could receive
management training while completing my college
degree, I would have been very interested in this program. If applications had been available, I would
have applied for the program.
7. In 1997, a new Supercenter opened in Dothan, Alabama. I was interested in working at a larger store in order to increase my promotion opportunities. I interviewed with Co-Manager Karen Bess and then with Store Manager Paul Lewellen. During my interview, I told Mr. Lewellen that I was interested in management. He told me that I needed experience in other areas of the business besides the Cash Office. He offered me a position in Claims, which I accepted. However, when I arrived at the Supercenter, I was assigned to a position in the Receiving Department. While working at the Dothan Supercenter, I continued to take classes towards my bachelor’s degree. Mr. Lewellen knew that I was in college because we discussed my work schedule and class schedule several times. Mr. Lewellen never told me about the First In Line program for college students. The fact that Mr. Lewellen knew of my interest in becoming a manger is reflected on a Commendation Form I received on January 15, 1999, which he signed and which states, “Denise ... is also crosstraining on the front end with the intentions of becoming an assistant manager.” (True and correct copy attached hereto as Mott Exhibit A.)
8. During this period of time, I searched on the internal computer system for the Wal-Mart policy requiring management trainees to have a four-year college degree, but I never found one. The internal computer system permits employees at the store level to review policies and guidelines generated by the Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas. Store Manager Lewellen and employees in the Personnel Office told me that a college degree was required, but I never saw any written guidelines to that effect. I also never saw any written information about the First In Line program on the internal computer system.
9. In approximately October 1998, Robert Adkins was hired into the Dothan Supercenter as a Management Trainee. Mr. Adkins told me that he did not have a college degree, even though both Mr. Abercrombie and Mr. Lewellen had informed me that a college degree was a prerequisite for the Management Training Program. Mr. Adkins was hired into the Management Training Program without prior Wal-Mart experience, even though Mr. Lewellen had told me Wal-Mart experience was necessary.
10. In late 1998 or early 1999, Store Manager Lewellen transferred to a store in Kissimee, Florida. Mr. Lewellen told me that, if I transferred to Kissimee, he would promote me to Support Manager in preparation for joining the Management Training Program. This was the first I had heard that experience as a Support Manager was a prerequisite for the Management Training Program. Mr. Adkins, who was hired directly into the Management Training Program, had not worked as a Support Manager before joining the Management Training program. But, because I was committed to proving myself to the company, and because my husband’s recent job transfer made the move convenient, I agreed to transfer to Kissimee. I transferred in spring 1999, with the intention of completing my bachelor's degree in finance at the University of South Florida. Unfortunately, the University's residence requirements made it impractical for me to transfer.
11. Two male employees from the Dothan Supercenter transferred to Kissimee at about the same time I did and both received immediate promotions. Douglas Alexander had been a Night Unloader at the Dothan Supercenter. At the Kissimee store, Mr. Lewellen immediately promoted Mr. Alexander to Night Receiving Manager. Andrew [last name unknown] had been a Sporting Goods Sales Associate at the Dothan Supercenter. At the Kissimee store, Mr. Lewellen immediately promoted Andrew to Support Manager. Although Mr. Lewellen had assured me a Support Manager job, I did not receive the promotion. Instead, Mr. Lewellen placed me back in the Receiving Department.
12. In June 1999, I saw an advertisement in the Orlando Times indicating that Wal-Mart was seeking to hire Assistant Managers. I was still very interested in a management position, so I submitted my resume and went to an interview at a hotel in the Orlando area. By this time, I had completed four years of college-level finance courses and I had six and a half years' experience at Wal-Mart. Andrew [last name unknown], from the Kissimee store, also attended an interview. I interviewed with a District Manager and with Regional Personnel Manager Ethan Minkel. During the interview, I was asked whether I was able to relocate. I said that I was relocatable, and I pointed out that I had already relocated once – from Dothan, Alabama to Kissimee, Florida – in order to be considered for jobs that would help me towards my goal of joining management. Neither interviewer told me that a college degree was required to join the Management Training Program.
13. Immediately after my interview, Store Manager Lewellen asked me if I had informed the interviewers that I was newly pregnant. I told him I had not informed the interviewers. I told him that I was early enough in my pregnancy that I could complete the training, take pregnancy leave, and then return to work as an Assistant Manager. Mr. Lewellen insisted that it would be “better” for me if I waited until after my child was born to join the Management Training Program. Mr. Lewellen then told me he was going to tell the interviewers that I was pregnant. He walked into the interview room, and I could hear him tell the interviewers that I was newly pregnant. I received no further response regarding the Management Training Program from Mr. Minkel or the other interviewer.
14. I worked at Wal-Mart for another two and a half years after that interview, but I was never promoted into the Management Training Program. Andrew was promoted into the Management Training Program shortly after his interview in Orlando. He trained in the Kissimee store, where he had worked as an hourly employee, even though I had been told that management trainees were not allowed to train in the same store where they had worked as hourly employees.
15. In October 1999, I transferred to a store in Prattville, Alabama, when my husband’s job location changed. I was never told that I needed to remain at the Kissimee store in order to qualify for a promotion to the Management Training Program. In a telephone interview with Prattville Store Manager Vanessa Withrow and Kissimee Store Manager Lewellen, I told Store Manager Withrow that I was interested in the Management Training Program. Store Manager Withrow told me she had a position available in the Personnel Office. However, when I arrived in Prattville, Store Manager Withrow placed me in the Receiving Department, a department where I had already worked for more than two years.
16. In April 2000, I transferred to a store in Enterprise, Alabama, when my husband’s job location changed again. I talked with Co-Manager Earl Preachers, and I described my eight years of experience and told him that I was interested in a Department Manager position or a Support Manager position. However, when I arrived at the Enterprise store, I was given a position on the inventory team. This position was never described to me as a promotion or as equivalent to a Department Manager position. I did not receive a raise when I started working on the inventory team, and I was not included in the store's regular Department Manager meetings.
17. In fall 2001, I applied for the position of Domestics Department Manager. When I applied for the position, Co-Manager Preachers said to me, “You don't want that job – you don’t want to lift furniture – that's a man's job.” I was never interviewed. I was denied the promotion in favor of a male employee named Nathan Stewart.
18. I lost hope that Wal-Mart would ever promote me, and I began looking for another job. When I left Wal-Mart after nine years, I was earning about $9 per hour.
19. During my employment with Wal-Mart, I received ten annual evaluations, seven of which were “meets expectations” and three of which were “exceeds expectations.” I also received two merit raises. I never received a written coaching. In 2001, I received a verbal coaching for “attendance issues.” I had taken several short medical leaves of absence that year because my young son had infant asthma and I needed to care for him. In my previous seven years at Wal-Mart, I had been absent a total of approximately seven days.
20. Other than the interview process in Orlando, which I knew about only because I saw it in the newspaper, I was unaware of any way to apply directly for management training. Had there been another way to apply for such training, I would have applied. If I was confident that I would be considered on my own merits and given an equal chance to do my best, I would consider returning to work at a managerial level with Wal-Mart.
21. 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
Alabama that the foregoing is true and correct.
This
Declaration was signed by me on ______________________ (month and day), 2003,
at _______________________ (city and state).
______________________________
Denise
Mott