Florida Walmart employee yells 'I don't really care' at 10-year-old disabled boy

[Miles Archer]

‘I don’t really care’: Florida Walmart employee yells at 10-year-old disabled boy for using a motorized cart



https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/dont-really-care-florida-walmart-employee-yells-10-year-old-disabled-boy-using-motorized-cart/

AFlorida Walmart refused to allow a 10-year-old disabled boy to use their motorized carts because one employee claimed it was against their policy.

His mother, Tiffany Ferris, was furious after the situation and posted a video to Facebook about what happened. According to Ferris, her son, Cameron, has muscular development problems which makes it difficult to walk.

***

“He has been in special shoes, wheelchairs at school, and there have been many nights spent rubbing his legs so he can just sleep. Well, he started to have leg spasms, and I had him use a motorized cart to finish our trip,” Ferris wrote on Facebook. “I had stepped away for a minute the first time a lady (Walmart associate) approached him and told him that he couldn’t be on the carts, he was trying to explain but she just continues to tell him no! My husband approached a manager (a floor manager) who apologized and said he would make sure that didn’t happen again”

“Then another lady says loudly ‘Ma’am, ma’am, excuse me Ma’am, is that your son?’ Pointing to my youngest. Yes he is, he is disabled and he needs it. To which she replies, ‘I don’t really care about that, but minors can’t ride our carts it’s policy because it’s a liability.'”

[Leghorn21]

1. Ah, and just in time for the great "BoycottWalmart" movement!!

Adios, Florida Walmart associate asshole

[SWBTATTReg]

2. I think that this Walmart employee is not going to be there very long...nt

[MagickMuffin]

3. I think it's time to sue the Waltons and WalMart to see if they CARE

They might have a different tune to sell.

[virgogal]

4. I'd give the lady a break---imagine dealing with Walmart customers all day.

What amazes me is that this incident is even publicized at all.

The mother has a right to be annoyed---but just should have asked for a manager,or left the store.

The world has gone nuts!!!!!!!!!

[DBoon]

5. Ibet they do have such a policy

and she may be rightfully concerned about being fired by allowing this kid to use a cart

Don't blame the person on the bottom for the direction set at the top (also known as "it rolls downhill&quot

[pnwmom]

7. There is a law, the ADA, that takes precedence over any store policy. Being a minor

doesn't except him from being protected by the ADA.

[jberryhill]

10. That's great, but the security camera feeds all go back to corporate

I had someone explain this to me once in connection with a different store chain.

The camera feeds can all be monitored from corporate offices - regional, national, whatever.

There is no communicating with those people.

If they see her on the camera noticing a kid on a motorized cart and not doing anything about it, the ban hammer comes down from remote.

Yes, there's a law. The kid can sue under the ADA. Laws don't automagically make people do stuff. If the store gets sued, they'd actually prefer to take that hit and deal with the consequences of that suit, than to say she should have done anything differently.

And the reason for that is, when they set a policy of "no kids on motorized carts" they have done the calculation of:

(cost of probable injuries from kids riding carts) vs. (cost of ADA actions from handicapped kid being denied cart)

If the number on the left is larger than the number on the right, then it is rational for them to have a "no exceptions" rule on whether kids ride motorized carts, because the point is to minimize losses from legal claims.

Put simply:

You run Wal-Mart. Would you rather:

A. Pay $10M a year in injury claims from allowing kids to ride motorized carts, or

B. Pay $9.9M a year in ADA claims from telling handicapped kids not to ride motorized carts.

The answer is simple. You're going to pay legal claims either way.

[ornotna]

8. If she doesn't care about the boys disability

Then why should I care about her. She signed up for the job of "dealing with Walmart customers all day." It's her job, and she's not dealing with it very well.

[virgogal]

12. We only know she dealt it with from what the mother said.

Maybe she didn't actually word it the way that the mother said she did.

Who knows?

[ornotna]

13. If you're unsure

Why defend her?

[Initech]

6. #Civility

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. I wonder if the cart designed in such a way

that a ten year old cannot safely operate it.

I have no idea, I'm just speculating. But if that's the case, then the kid has no business in it, and since he is disabled, why don't they have a wheelchair for him?

[JI7]

11. Why not just kindly say they are not allowed to let him use it for safety reasons ?