Walmart has been sued for having a Down Syndrome. A young lady claiming she suffered discrimination because of her Down syndrome brought the suit against Walmart. The company was order to compensate her for $125 million, but it continues to deny any responsibility. Further, the EEOC appealed a ruling that said it had wrongfully paid back her wages.
EEOC claims $125M in punitive damages
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently won $125 million in punitive damages against Walmart in a lawsuit that was filed on behalf of Marlo Spaeth, a former employee with down syndrome. In addition to compensatory damages, the jury awarded $44,758 in prejudgment interest and $69,000 for tax consequences.
Gregory Gochanour (EEOC regional attorney) said that the case concerned Walmart’s inability to accommodate the work schedule of an employee who has a disability. Spaeth suffered significant difficulties because of a Walmart new scheduling system in 2014.
According to EEOC officials Spaeth found it hard to arrive at work on schedule. She was eventually fire due to excessive absenteism. Walmart did not provide accommodations to help her schedule, which further exacerbated her attendance problems.
Spaeth, despite receiving positive performance appraisals, was refuse a schedule adjustment which would have made it possible for her to get there on time. Walmart didn’t rehire her after her mother intervened.
Appeal to EEOC regarding back pay
Walmart Inc., which was brought to court by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January 2017, was accused of unlawfully firing a worker suffering from Down syndrome. EEOC claims Walmart did not accommodate the needs and wants of this employee, despite his sixteen year tenure with the retailer.
The jury awarded $125 millions in damages. This includes punitive as well as compensatory damages. The jury also awarded a front pay interest.
It was the highest award a federal agency could have ever granted to an individual. However, large jury verdicts tend to be about punishing defendants rather than making plaintiffs rich.
Although the jury had awarded $125 Million in damages, the jury didn’t award punitive damage. The award was instead reduce to $300,000. The cap doesn’t apply to consequential damages.
A jury was also instruct to determine the most important legal claim. However, in this particular case the jury did not look at the EEOC as the simplest possible solution.
Spaeth is rehired by the EEOC after a losing case
Federal disability discrimination suit against Walmart has been won by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Wisconsin. They claim Walmart didn’t accommodate Marlo Spaeth who is a longtime employee and has Down syndrome.
Jurors awarded punitive damages of more than $125,000,000. This award was the highest ever for a federal agency case involving a single victim. Charlotte Burrows (EEOC Chair) said the award sent a clear message to employers.
The jury found that Walmart violated the law when it turned down a request by an employee to change his or her working schedule to allow for greater flexibility. Spaeth protested the decision, which triggered community anger. The EEOC intervened in the matter.
Spaeth saw her schedule change abruptly as a result of the adoption by the company of a computerized scheduling program. Her new shift, which required her to work a different shift and start and end times, made her sick. She wanted to get back to her original schedule. The company rejected her offer, as it considered the request unreasonable.
Walmart is reluctant to take responsibility
A lawsuit filed against Walmart in Wisconsin, claiming disability discrimination, has awarded $300,000 in damages to a woman with Down syndrome. The company has not yet decided whether it will appeal.
Marlo Spaeth is a Manitowoc Walmart employee who was diagnose with Down syndrome. He worked there for 16 years. The store install a computerize schedule system in 2014 Spaeth unable to adjust to the change in her schedule because it was meant to be match with customer traffic. Spaeth was upset about not being able to eat dinner.
Spaeth claimed that Walmart failed to provide reasonable accommodations due to her disability. Walmart denied her request for an adjustment in her work hours.
Spaeth lost some of her social skills after she was fire. Sometimes she would leave early, and then get sick. It was a shift in her work schedule from noon-4pm to 1pm-5.30pm.
Her supervisors testified that she needed more help. Sometime she’d leave before the bus arrived to get to work.
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