Marlo Spaeth was fired from Walmart in July 2015 after working there for almost 16 years. His sister, Amy Jo Stevenson, has been in a lawyer battle with the retail giant ever since. He filed a discrimination complaint with the United States Equal Opportunities Commission.
Marlo Spaeth lived for – and he loved – his work in a Walmart in Wisconsin.
Then, after almost 16 years of working there, Walmart fired her abruptly in 2015. Spaeth, who has Down syndrome, was devastated.
His sister and legal guardian, Amy Jo Stevenson, said Spaeth quickly “withdrew” in a shell “and lost the meaning of the goal he got from working at the Walmart Supercenter in Manitowoc, where he thrived on interacting with customers and had received praise from supervisors in performance reviews.
Spaeth, 55, stopped coming on the phone and would have covered her face when someone wanted to take a picture of her. And when a Walmart ad came along on TV, or when a company truck he drove, he buried her head in his hands.
“Why me? Why did they do this to me?” Spaeth repeatedly asked his sister.
“It was nothing short of traumatic,” Stevenson said. “Era hard, very difficult to watch.”
For the past six years, Stevenson and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were blocked in a law battle on On behalf of Spaeth with Walmart.
Last week, a jury in a federal court in Green Bay, Wisconsin, took just three hours of resolutions to find that Walmart had violated federal law in his treatment of Spaeth. Jurors found the company discriminated against Spaeth when he refused to accept his disability by returning its recently adjusted work hours to one shift she had done well for more than 15 years old.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to find reasonable solutions for workers and customers.
Historical jury award
The jury ordered the retail giant to pay more than $125 million in damage – one of the highest in federal agency history for only one victim.
The judge reduced those damages to $300,000, the maximum permitted by law.
Walmart has yet to face the possibility of being ordered to pay additional taxes and Spaeth’s wages and lost interest. The judge could also force the dealer to make changes at the company due to the verdict.
Walmart is the largest in the nation private employer, with more than 2.3 million workers Worldwide. The company in Entries booked for 2020 of nearly $560 billion. Three heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton – Alice Walton, Jim Walton, and Rob Walton – were, respectively, the numbers 10, 11, and 12 on the “richest Americans” of Forbes list; Everything is exemplary of them who have fortunes valued at around $62 billion each.
Walmart has not said whether it will appeal the verdict in Spaeth’s case, but he is reviewing her options. “We take supporting all of our associates seriously, and for those with disabilities, we regularly welcome thousands each year,” said company spokesman Randy Hargrove in a declaration.
“We tried for more of an year to resolve this topic with the EEOC a avoid litigation, however the EEOC’s claims were unreasonable, “he said.
However, Stevenson said Walmart showed no remorse or took steps that could prevent another employee from facing similar discrimination.
She knows what changes she likes to see at the Manitowoc store, And in every other Walmart all over the country. She wants every one of Walmart’s employees and executives informed of their rights e requirements under the ADA, with his sister’s case as an example.
A memo from Marlo Spaeth
“I guess a memo from Marlo Spaeth is hanging up in every Walmart that says, ‘You can’t do that,’ “said Stevenson.
If Stevenson understands it, the wish for a note from Marlo Spaeth remains to be seen.
The EEOC said so plans to seek non-monetary remedies, according to Justin Mulaire, a lawyer for the federal agency told. He declined to identify such treatments.
Remedies in past cases have included asking the court to order the reinstatement of an illegitimately terminated employee requiring nationwide mandatory training for managers or employees.
Hargrove said Walmart has not changed its corporate policies but said the leaders “continuously review, review or improve in base on changes in the law.” they declined to comment on if Walmart will offer Spaeth’s job back, saying the case still is active.
The lawsuit led to a series of difficult times for Spaeth and Stevenson.
Stevenson and Spaeth resisted hours of questions from Walmart’s attorneys during the fight, which began when the EEOC found that the women her claims were well-founded and have cited in Walmart’s judgment.
They grieved the death of the mother, Sandra Barnes, who had helped Spaeth first to apply for Walmart work, e who was a champion for those with developmental disabilities.
And Walmart forced Spaeth to go through hours of psychological exams, which left her downcast and sobbing inconsolably in the passenger seat of a car.
In a statement, Hargrove said the assessments conducted by both sides “are a common part of litigation to face the charges like grown up ones in this case, and we tried to be respectful of Mrs. Spaeth during her evaluation. ”
Jasmine Harris, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, specializing in anti-discrimination law, said retailers often bring employees with a disability to the front of the store. They feature them in marketing materials And social liability reports.
With the verdict, Harris said the jurors sent in a clear message to those employers: Spaeth – and so many others with disabilities – they are not charity cases or props but qualified job applicants and contributing employees.
The employee was then fired.
Spaeth started working in 1999 as a salesperson at the Walmart Supercenter in Manitowoc, a small city in Eastern Wisconsin on the shore of Lake Michigan.
Four days a week, for nearly 16 years old, Spaeth took the bus to the store where he rearranged up corridors, folded towels, and made elaborate and extravagant on customers.
By Spaeth, work to shift for most of his Walmart tenure ran from noon to 4:00 pm. When he was done for the day, her took the bus back home in time for an early dinner.
But in November 2014, Spaeth’s hours changed when the Walmart store Started using a computerized programming system designed to match staffing levels with customer traffic, according to court records.
By Spaeth schedule was moved from 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm, according to the cause.
Spaeth struggled to adapt to change. In court documents and interviews, Stevenson said Spaeth felt ill, overheated, and stressed from the disturbed schedule.
Dr. David Smith, founder of the Down syndrome clinic of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, testified in the court case that Spaeth’s response mirrored the challenges of many people with Down syndrome, who have difficulty with changes in daily routines and other transitions.
Spaeth and his sister repeatedly asked supervisors to restore his old schedule. But Walmart refused, according to the lawsuit.
Spaeth first left the store some days, worried about missing the bus or her dinner at home.
According to court records, Walmart began counting those days as “incomplete shifts, ” which were booked as absences instead of manager-approved early departures as they had been in the past.
Eventually, the store took disciplinary action against Spaet, firing her in July 2015 for excessive absenteeism.
Stevenson thought the situation might be fixed even after firing his sister.
He’s scheduled a meeting with store supervisors, carrying a print of ADA requirements and a copy of Spaeth’s dismissal paperwork, which he had a box checked to say it was summable.
EEOC takes the case
When I manager Walmart repeated no, Stevenson filed a complaint with the EEOC and later received a letter in which it was said that the agency would take the case.
In their lawsuit, EEOC lawyers argued that if Walmart changed by Spaeth’s hours back under the ADA, it would be a reasonable accommodation for his disability and would not burden Walmart or the store where he worked. That store is open 24 hours daily and has more than 300 employees.
EEOC lawyers noted that in depositions, Walmart’s supervisors had said other sales associates would be happy to take the extra hours that would open up if Spaeth had given it the old schedule.
They also noted that by giving the hours to a less experienced associate, Walmart could save money. Due to his tenure at the store, Spaeth’s wages had risen to $12.50 an hour, more how much an entry-level worker would be paid.
But Walmart’s attorneys argued that Spaeth wasn’t a qualified individual with a disability because he could not come to work or stay at work on a reliable basis.
After Spaeth was distressed by a precedent session, Walmart and Stevenson collided over further psychological tests.
A Walmart attorney asked Stevenson what he would do if he had to choose between further examining his sister or rejecting the case.
Stevenson eventually decided to allow Two more hours of exams for his sister.
“They were making it difficult like possible to keep the case, “Stevenson said.” And it was, just mean. It was bad.”
She was crying, and I was crying.
Stevenson said the money cannot repair the damage from Walmart’s actions and cannot return a sense of identity torn from his sister.
“He had the job title with honor, “said Stevenson.” I think . in his mind, the store just he wouldn’t operate without her.”
In performance reviews included in the case file, Walmart supervisors also noted Spaeth’s dedication to the job. They gave her positive marks and salary increases.
The day Spaeth was fired, a Walmart training coordinator named Debbie Moss escorted her out of the store, And later she told EEOC attorneys that she started crying as Spaeth hesitated to divest her Walmart. Employee dress.
“He said he didn’t understand, and he was crying and I was crying,” Moss said in a deposition.
“And I gave her a hug. And I said, ‘I know.'”
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