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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,
Karla Rojas, declare:
1. I
am a 41 year old female living in Dallas, Texas. I worked at numerous Wal-Mart stores in Texas
as well as in Wal-Mart’s Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas, from June 11,
1983, until March 1, 2000. Although I
was one of the few women to make it into Wal-Mart management, I was a victim of
Wal-Mart’s gender discrimination in the work assignments I received and the
company’s failure to promote me and adequately train me.
2.
I started my Wal-Mart career in the Management Training Program in
the Longview, Texas, store. When I first met Bob Madden, the Longview,
Texas, Store Manager, he said: “I don’t
like college graduates, and I don’t like female managers.” Considering I had just graduated in May,
1983, from the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) with a BSBA in Marketing
and was reporting to him to commence the Management Training Program, my
introduction to the Wal-Mart “family” was extremely hostile.
3.
Although the Management Training Program was designed to last several
months, I was pulled from the program after only one month by an order from the
Home Office so that I could assume the responsibilities of the “Manager in
Charge of Hardlines” at the Longview, Texas, store. I was never promoted to Assistant Manager
during my time in this position and never received a pay increase above the
hourly wage I was supposed to receive during the “training” period.
4. When
I completed my unofficial “Manager in Charge of Hardlines” position at the
Longview, Texas, store in February, 1984, Wal-Mart assigned me to an Assistant
Manager position at the Henderson, Texas, store. Because I had received only one month of the
training typically provided to Assistant Managers, I made a request to both
Jerry Wade, the Store Manager, and Frank Boren, the District Manager, that I be
provided more training so that I could perform all of my job duties. Mr. Wade and Mr. Boren denied my request and
commented that training would not help me because I was “incompetent.”
5. After
I had been working for a while as an Assistant Manager at the Henderson, Texas,
store, Mr. Boren called me into his office for a meeting. Mr. Boren suggested that I resign from my
position and find a husband to settle down with and have children to relieve my
“work-related stress.” I was shocked and
upset to hear this from my District Manager and immediately wrote a letter to
Harry Green, Regional Vice-President, wherein I recited Mr. Boren’s
remarks. Mr. Green called me on the
telephone within a few days and told me not to worry because I would not lose
my job and that Mr. Boren would apologize to me for his remarks. Although I did not lose my job, I never
received an apology from Mr. Boren.
6. After
working as an Assistant Manager at the Henderson, Texas, store in 1984 and
1985, I was assigned to work in Assistant Manager positions at the Canton,
Texas, and Marshall, Texas, stores in 1985 and 1986, respectively. In 1986, I moved to Bentonville, Arkansas,
and worked at the Home Office for three years.
During my time at the Home Office, I held positions of Fashion
Distributor and Assistant Buyer. In the
three years I worked at the Home Office, I only observed two females in
supervisory positions.
7. In
1989, I relocated to the Duncanville, Texas, store as an Assistant Manager,
where I worked for two years. After I
had worked at the Duncanville, Texas, store for about a year, the Store
Manager, Larry Statton, took medical leave, which opened up a vacancy for the
Store Manager position. At the time, I
was the lead Assistant Manager and had expressed to Mr. Statton my desire to be
placed into the Store Manager position.
Ed Nagy, the District Manager, and Mr. Statton, however, decided to
place David Bickell, a male Assistant Manager, into the Store Manager position. Mr. Bickell had three or four months
experience at the Duncanville store – compared to my year of experience at the
store – and had less Wal-Mart and managerial experience than me.
8. I
had repeatedly made it known to all of my Wal-Mart District Managers that I
wanted to become a Store Manager. Mr. Nagy,
the District Manager, told me that in order to become a Store Manager, I had to
first work as an Operations Assistant Manager.
Believing that this was the track I needed to follow to become a Store
Manager, I agreed to be assigned to an Operations Assistant Manager
position. After Mr. Nagy was replaced by
Brent Allen as District Manager, Mr. Allen informed me that Wal-Mart was
eliminating the Operations Assistant Manager Program, and that if I wanted to
become a Store Manager, I needed to first work as a Co-Manager.
9. I
continued to be denied a promotion to a Store Manager position from
Wal-Mart. In 1991 at the Duncanville
store, I was next in line for a promotion to a Co-Manager position when
Wal-Mart eliminated the Co-Manager position at the store. I then took an Operations Assistant Manager
position at the Allen, Texas, store, but in 1992, Mr. Allen, the District
Manager, told me that my Operations Assistant Manager position was being
eliminated and that I would be required to accept an Assistant Manager position
at the Garland, Texas, store. I took the
Assistant Manager position in Garland, and while there, was told by Mr. Allen
that I would have to relocate if I wanted my name to be placed on the “Promotable
List,” which he told me was a prerequisite to becoming a Store Manager. I complained to the Regional Vice-President
about this relocation requirement, and was finally placed on the “Promotable
List.” I understood that the Home Office
maintained this “Promotable List,” which was a list of Wal-Mart employees that
were deemed by Store Managers, District Managers or Regional Managers to be
worthy of promotion to management positions at the level of Store Manager or
higher.
10. In
1995, Wal-Mart assigned me to be a Store Manager in The Colony, Texas,
store. When I arrived as Store Manager
in The Colony store, I found that the store was in terrible shape and employee
morale was very poor. For example, the
store was dirty and signs were outdated, the stock room was too full and
unorganized, store record-keeping was shoddy and had been manipulated in the
past, the personnel office was dysfunctional and previous store management had
not followed Wal-Mart policies and rules.
In an effort to improve conditions at this store, I requested from Dale Neighbors,
the District Manager, more employees, storage space and funds to pay overtime
wages. My requests were denied, and when
the store conditions did not improve, Wal-Mart unfairly placed me on probation. After six months in the job, I could tell that
it was a no-win situation for me, and I asked to step down from the Store
Manager position. Wal-Mart accepted my
request, but kept me on as the Store Manager for another nine weeks before
replacing me with Lincoln Williams, a male.
After I left The Colony store, Wal-Mart authorized the new male Store
Manager to pay overtime wages to improve the conditions at the store.
11. My
next assignment, in 1995, was as an Assistant Manager in the Lancaster, Texas,
store. At one point during my two years
at the Lancaster store, David McKenzie, the Store Manager, and Janet Hatfield,
the District Manager, asked me to perform the role of Acting Store Manager at
the Irving, Texas, store in approximately May, 1997. I accepted this assignment and managed the
Irving, Texas, store very well by improving employee morale, cleaning out
receiving overstock and improving overall store standards. On numerous occasions, I expressed my desire
to be promoted into the permanent Store Manager position at the Irving, Texas,
store to Janet Hatfield, the District Manager.
Wal-Mart denied my promotion request and placed a male into the
permanent Store Manager position at the Irving store. My belief is that Wal-Mart did not want a
female Store Manager at the Irving store because the store received frequent
visits from Wal-Mart executives and vendors and was thus considered a high
profile store.
12.
Later in 1997, either Gary Loafman or Janet Hatfield, the incoming and
outgoing District Managers, respectively, told me that Wal-Mart had reinstated
the position of Co-Manager and that I would have to serve in this position
before I could become a full-time Store Manager. Because of what I was told regarding Wal-Mart
Store Manager promotion policies, I returned to the Duncanville, Texas, store and
accepted an assignment as Co-Manager with the goal of eventually becoming a
full-time Store Manager.
13.
Wal-Mart, however, made an exception to its alleged “policies” when it
promoted Charles Thomas to a Store Manager position at the Balch Springs, Texas,
store in 1997. I knew Mr. Thomas from my
time at the Lancaster, Texas, store, when we were both Assistant Managers. At the Lancaster store, Mr. Thomas was lower
on the Assistant Manager hierarchy scale than me. Wal-Mart promoted Mr. Thomas directly from an
Assistant Manager position into a Co-Manager position, then into a Store
Manager position, without requiring him to serve as an Operations Assistant
Manager. Moreover, Mr. Thomas held these
three positions at the same store in Balch Springs, Texas. After observing Mr. Thomas’ promotion to
Store Manager, I concluded that Wal-Mart applied their Store Manager promotion
“policies” differentially in order to exclude me from Store Manager positions
because I am a woman.
14. On
nearly all of my Performance Appraisals I received a performance rating of at
least four out of five, indicating that I “Exceeded Expectations.” Two exceptions to this were the Performance
Appraisals I received on September 12, 1995, and March 2, 1998. The 1995 Performance Appraisal referred to my
time in The Colony store as Store Manager when I was set up to fail. In fact, my District Manager stated in the
“Comment” section of the appraisal: “I myself accept responsibility” for the
poor performance of the store. See
Annual Performance Appraisal dated September 12, 1995, a true and correct copy
of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
The 1998 Performance Appraisal was the last appraisal I received from
Wal-Mart before I resigned. I received a
“Below Expectations” on the 1998 Performance Appraisal, and in the “Comment”
section I wrote the following objection to the very unfair rating: “I believe I
have been set up to fail because my concerns are not being addressed and
because there has been a conflict over what my responsibilities
are. I feel like the Open Door Policy
has failed me.” (Emphasis in
original) See Annual Performance
Appraisal dated March 2, 1998, a true and correct copy of which is attached
hereto as Exhibit B.
15. I
consistently and repeatedly made it known to Wal-Mart that I desired to be
promoted into high-level management positions.
In the “Comments” or “goals” sections of my Performance Appraisals, I
almost always stated that I wanted to be promoted into the next level of
management, including Co-Manager, Store Manager and District Manager
positions. See Comment pages of
Annual Performance Appraisals dated December 20, 1984, September 8, 1989, March
22, 1990, August 9, 1990, March 8, 1991, August 15, 1991, April 8, 1992,
October 18, 1992, January 28, 1993, September 15, 1993, February 15, 1995 and
February 1, 1997, true and correct copies of which are attached hereto
collectively as Exhibit C. On at least
two occasions, my District Manager or Director of Operations commented on my
Performance Appraisals that I was capable or ready to manage my own store. See Exhibit C, Comment pages of Annual
Performance Appraisals dated August 9, 1990 and February 15, 1995.
16. In
approximately January, 1999, I took a medical leave of absence. Due to the debilitating nature of my medical
condition, I did not return to work at Wal-Mart and was terminated in March,
2000, in accordance with Wal-Mart’s policy that the time limit for employee
medical leave was one year.
17. I
would consider returning to work for Wal-Mart if I were assured that I would be
provided fair opportunities for advancement and a non-discriminatory working
environment.
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 _______________________, Texas.
______________________________
Karla Rojas