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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)
581-8922 Facsimile: (415) 557-7895 |
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
I, Melodie Underwood, declare:
1. I
am a female and a former employee of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
2. Prior
to working at Wal-Mart, I had worked in retail.
From approximately 1984 to 1988, I was a cashier at Super X Drugs. While I was employed at Super X Drugs, I was
assigned management responsibilities when no manager was present at the store,
and I was given management training.
From approximately 1988 to 1995, I worked at the Dollar General
store. I was hired as a cashier, but
after approximately one year I was promoted to the position of Store Manager.
3. I began working
for Wal-Mart in May 1999 as a Cashier at Wal-Mart store in Osage Beach,
Missouri. When I applied for the job, I
gave Wal-Mart a written recommendation from my supervisor at Super X Drugs,
Store Manager Laura Ferguson. A true and
correct copy of this recommendation is attached hereto as Underwood Exhibit
A. Although I had experience in retail
management, I was offered an entry-level position as a Cashier. I accepted the position with the intention of
working my way up into management.
4.
Soon after I began working
at Wal-Mart, I told Head Customer Service Manager Mary Simpson that
I wanted to become an Assistant Manager.
She told me that there were lots of opportunities at Wal-Mart. Another Customer Service Manager conducted a
ninety-day review of my job performance.
At that review, I again expressed my interest in getting into Wal-Mart’s
assistant manager training program.
Neither she nor Ms. Simpson told me what steps I should take to try to
achieve my goal.
5.
In approximately August
1999, I spoke with Assistant Manager Marcy Turner about my interest in becoming
an Assistant Manager. Ms. Turner told me
that I had what it took to become an Assistant Manager. Ms. Turner also told me that she began
working for Wal-Mart fifteen years earlier and, at that time, Wal-Mart did not
put women into management. She told me
that even now, as a woman, I would need to work twice as hard as male employees
to get promoted.
6.
From approximately August
1999 until August or September 2000, I worked a part-time evening shift at
Wal-Mart because I had a full-time job during the day as Store Manager of
Farberware. Farberware is a retail store
that specializes in cooking equipment.
From approximately August or September 2000 until November 2000, I
worked a full-time evening shift at Wal-Mart, while I continued to work at
Farberware during the day. I continued
to work at Wal-Mart even though I had another job because I was extremely
interested in becoming a manager at a Wal-Mart store.
7.
In approximately April 2000,
I received my first annual evaluation. I
was rated “exceeds expectations.” That
is the highest rating that one can be given.
I wrote on the evaluation that I wanted “to become part of the
management team.” A true and correct
copy of the evaluation is attached hereto as Underwood Exhibit B.
8. The evaluation was
conducted by Assistant Manager Melissa Callen.
During the evaluation, I told Ms. Callen that I wanted to become an
Assistant Manager with Wal-Mart and asked what I had to do. She told me to talk to the Store
Manager. I took her advice and spoke
with Store Manager Ron Kinnison about my interest in promoting into
management. Mr. Kinnison told me that it
would be possible, but that I had to learn two other front-end positions,
Service Desk Associate and Customer Service Manager, and the sales floor
positions. Despite the fact that I had
repeatedly expressed interest in promoting into management, that was the first
time anyone told me about those requirement.
Mr. Kinnison also told me that I had the ability to be a manager.
9.
Because of Mr. Kinnison’s
advice, I asked to be transferred to the other front-end positions. In approximately June 2000, I was transferred
to the position of Customer Service Manager.
While working as a Customer Service Manager, I learned the service desk
responsibilities and supervised the cashiers, who were almost all women. On one occasion, I trained a male Assistant
Manager Trainee on how to operate the service desk and the cash register.
10. In
approximately November 2000, I transferred to a Wal-Mart store in Las Vegas,
Nevada. I received a raise to bring my
wages to the Las Vegas scale, but I was raised only to the “new hire” rate of
$8.50.
11.
I continued to work as a
Customer Service Manager in Las Vegas. I
did not receive any additional training when I transferred to the Las Vegas
store. The work rules and procedures in
Las Vegas store were the same as in Missouri where I had worked previously.
12.
Almost as soon as I began
working at the Las Vegas store, I told Store Manager Jay Mossell that I was
interested in promoting into management.
He told me that I would have to learn how to use the telxon machine, which
is a hand-held computer used on the
sales floor. As a result, I asked to be
transferred to a position that would enable me to learn the telxon.
13. In
November 2000, I was transferred to a clerk position in the Electronics
Department. I took this position because
I believed that I would be given the opportunity to be promoted into management
if I learned the sales floor skills. The
form showing that I was being transferred says that I was “moving to learn
further the steps to becoming a department manager, moving later into
management.” A true and correct copy of
this form is attached hereto as Underwood Exhibit C. In January 2001, I was promoted to the
position of Furniture Department Manager.
14. In April 2001,
while I was working as Furniture Department Manager, I received my second
annual evaluation. Again, I was rated
“exceeds expectations,” the highest rating possible. I wrote on the evaluation that my goal was to
get into the Assistant Manager Training Program. A true and correct copy of that evaluation is
attached hereto as Underwood Exhibit D.
That evaluation is signed by Store Manager David Lorentz.
15. In
late 2000, I attended a meeting at which the District Manager was present. I approached him and told him that I was
interest in promoting into management.
He did not respond.
16.
On two occasions when I was
working in the Las Vegas store, in December 2000 and June 2001, there were
openings for support manager positions.
I applied for the positions. On one
occasion, I was interviewed by a female Assistant Manager who told me that I
was a strong candidate. I was not
interviewed the second time. One of the
positions was filled by a man. I do not
know who filled the position the second time.
No one told me why I was not selected for the positions or what I needed
to do to get promoted to Support Manager.
17.
A man named Matt Ward was an
Assistant Manager at the Las Vegas store at which I worked. Prior to becoming an Assistant Manager, Mr.
Ward was in the military. To my
knowledge, Mr. Ward did not have any retail experience prior to working at
Wal-Mart. Mr. Ward was not required to
work in the front-end positions or a sales floor position in order to hold the
position of Assistant Manager.
18.
On approximately June 12,
2001, I submitted a letter of resignation, stating that I would resign as of
two weeks from the date of the letter.
In the resignation letter, I explained that I had obtained an Assistant
Manager Trainee position at K-Mart. I
also wrote, “I have tried to get into this program with Wal-Mart for 2 years
now without any luck. I regret to give
you this notice but I have to look out for my future.” A true and correct copy of my resignation letter
is attached hereto as Underwood Exhibit E.
No member of Wal-Mart management tried to discourage me from
resigning. Instead, when Store Manager
Dave Lorentz returned from vacation on June 19, 2001, he did not permit me to work until the end of my
two weeks notice. Mr. Lorentz told me
that I was being terminated immediately because I had taken a job with a
competitor.
19. During
the entire time I worked at Wal-Mart, I never saw an application for the
Management Training Program or was told how to apply for the Management
Training Program. I did everything I
could think of to make my interest in promoting known to my managers, but it
was not effective. Had I been promoted,
I would not have resigned from Wal-Mart.
20. 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
Nevada that the foregoing is true and correct.
This
Declaration was signed by me on ______________________ (month, day), 2003, at
_______________________ (city, state).
______________________________