Tag Archives: Wal-Mart

Corporate Welfare, Food Stamps

Wal-Mart & McDonald’s: Passing the Buck to Taxpayers

Today’s post comes from guest author Charlie Domer, from The Domer Law Firm.

Came across this post today: “How McDonald’s and Wal-Mart Became Welfare Queens.”  News like this has become so commonplace that you almost accept it with a shrug.   Yeah, big box stores and fast food chains are paying their workers cruddy wages, forcing them to go on state health insurance and food stamp assistance.  Oh well.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.

But the outrage should exist.  These stories make my blood boil.  Many of these companies are making massive profits.  You’re telling me you can’t pay a living wage?  All of us, as taxpayers, are helping pad the the coffers of these companies.  By not providing sufficient wages or health care, the actual taxpayers serve as the necessary social safety net for these workers.  Is that really how we want our society and country structured?

Admittedly my experience is anectodal, but I see a number of these workers in my practice–from the greeters at Wal-Mart to those flipping burgers at McDonald’s.  Many are making a minimum hourly wage of $7.25.  No matter how hard they work (and, in my experience, some of these fast food and retail workers are the hardest workers out there, in light of their work condition), they cannot get ahead or make enough to avoid the necessity of seeking food stamp assistance or of searching for the local food pantry.  

Corporations simply should not be able to get rich on the public’s back.  As taxpayers, we continue to allow this grossly one-sided equation to continue.

 

RICO

RICO Case Against Wal-Mart & CMI Settles for $8 Million

Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Gelman from Jon Gelman, LLC – Attorney at Law.

A pending RICO case against Wal-Mart, Claims Management, Inc. (CMI)  and others, where the plaintiff alleged that the employer, working in concert with other defendants “dictated and interfered unlawfully ” with employees who were entitle to medical treatment flowing from occupational accidents. has been settled for $8 Million. (Settlment Documents).

The parties made a Joint Statment on November 13, 2012 announcing the Court’s approval:

he United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Judge Robert N. Blackburn, has granted final approval to the settlement of a class action suit agains

JOSEPHINE GIANZERO and JENNIFER JENSEN, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs, v.WAL-MART STORES, INC., a Delaware corporation; CLAIMS MANAGEMENT, INC., an Arkansas corporation; AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE CO., a New York corporation; CONCENTRA HEALTH SERVICES, INC., a Nevada corporation; and JOHN DOES 1-10, whose true names are unknown,
Defendants. Civil Action No. 1:09-cv-00656-REB-BNB (USDCT Colorado) 

….

Read more about RICO claims and Workers’ Compensation

Colorado Court Allows RICO Case to Proceed Against Wal-Mart
Mar 28, 2011
A partial summary judgment motion was denied by Judge Robert E. Blackburn in a pending Colorado case against Wal-Mart where the plaintiff alleged that the employer, working in concert with other defendants “dictated and …
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Injured Workers Assert Class Action Claiming Wal-Mart Violated …
Jul 25, 2009
1961-1968.] The Class Action Complaint was filed on March 24, 2009. Gianzero v Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , et al., US DCT (D. Colorado) No. 09-cv-00656 REB BNB. Wal-Mart’s workers’ compensation has been critically reviewed …
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Stay Lifted in RICO Class Action Against Wal-Mart – Workers …
Aug 23, 2010
The claim, on behalf of 7,000 Colorado Wal-Mart workers charges conspiracy with: Claims Management Inc., American Home Assurance Co. and Concentra Health Services Inc., to control medical treatment, who may have …
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Concentra Denied a Protective Order in Wal-Mart RICO Lawsuit
May 10, 2011
Concentra was denied a protective order in a pending Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et seq. claim filed in Federal Court in Colorado. The plaintiffs allege that Wal-Mart …
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

 

safety rules, workplace safety

Buying a Cheap Shirt at Wal-Mart? Consider the real cost (in lives).

Wal-Mart’s low prices have led to unsafe working conditions.

Today’s post comes from guest author Tom Domer from The Domer Law Firm.

The recent Bangladesh factory fire killed over 100 workers.  The factor produced goods for Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart now concedes it “needs to do more to control its supply chain.”

Wal-Mart’s Vice President of “Ethical Sourcing” (irony noted here) said the company control could “only go so far” in preventing an unauthorized factory producing its goods.  Wal-Mart said its Faded Glory clothing should not have been produced in the factory, which Bangladesh officials said was not safe.

Wal-Mart’s “factory certification” program focused on Bangladesh and China was allegedly “dedicated to improving the status of foreign labor.” Tell that to the families of the workers who died.

At a meeting last year where Wal-Mart’s Vice President of Ethical Sourcing was in attendance, the Bangladeshi Garment Workers Union proposed that producers such as Wal-Mart help ensure prices are high enough to provide for safety measures for their workers.

Wal-Mart’s Vice President indicated Wal-Mart could not support such a program because of the high cost.  Consider that next time you buy a cheap shirt at Wal-Mart.