Breaking on CNN: Judge fines Walmart 200+Million for workplace...

[Poll_Blind]

...violations: Denying workers lunch breaks, et al. Overheard this in the other room. Will provide a link asap- literally just came on CNN.

On edit: 2:48PM breaking headline on Faux News
On edit: 2:50PM On Yahoo
On edit: 3:18PM On CNN, MSNBC

PB

[ticapnews]

1. Breaking: Wal-Mart CEO reaches into pocket, pulls out loose change

pays fine.

Then cuts more pay from employees to cover reimbursement.

[baldguy]

3. Right. It's an order of magnitude too small.

Should be more like $200 Billion.

[ny_liberal]

23. they're gonna appeal and appeal

until it's reduced to $100,000

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. OMG. Lock the petty cash drawer. This is really gonna hurt.

[Born Free]

29. Bad publicity hurts

It may not affect their bottom line much financially but the bad publicity adds up. Hopefully enough bad publicity will make them realize they need to be better to their empolyees. I don't hate Wal-Mart, I would shop there today if I knew they were doing the right thing for the workers and local communities they take over. I have no problem with people making money, lots of money; as long as they do it in a way that is not harmful to others.

[cal04]

2. Jury Awards $207M to Wal-Mart Employees

California Jury Awards $207 Million to Wal-Mart Workers Who Claim They Were Denied Lunch Breaks

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A California jury on Thursday awarded $207 million to thousands of employees at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. who claimed they were illegally denied lunch breaks.

The world's largest retailer was ordered to pay $57 million in general damages and $150 million in punitive damages to about 116,000 current and former California employees for violating a 2001 state law that requires employers to give 30-minute, unpaid lunch breaks to employees who work at least six hours.


http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/051222/wal_mart_lunch_breaks.html?.v=2

[acmejack]

4. Merry Christmas!

[WhiteTara]

19. great! now this just needs to happen again

in the other 49!

[Rainscents]

5. I wish they were fine... 10 Billion dollars! Bankrupt the fuckers!

[Tiggeroshii]

6. Still too small, but still hurts them

Maybe more courts nationwide will see what's going on and do a little more damage.

[lonestarnot]

7. Peanuts!

[gizmo1979]

9. Every judgement is a chink

in the armor they're trying to improve they're image,this won't help.

[Selteri]

28. Kinda like Medusa putting on Makeup.

[Mass]

10. How many days of income is that?

As long as they do not give substantial fines, Walmart will not care.

[ima_sinnic]

11. it averages out to about $1785 per person in the suit

dividing $207 million by 116,000 people. of course, there must be lawyers somewhere who will siphon off a good chunk of that, unless perhaps there is an additional amount for the lawyers.

[Mass]

13. Thanks

I was thinking about how little it impacts Walmart more than anything else.

[shanti]

12. PetSmart is guilty of denying lunch breaks too

my son worked there for a time and ended up quitting because of how they treated their employees. they also stiffed him on his time. i told him he had a lawsuit, but he never followed thru on it.

[mrdmk]

14. I do not know what everybody is so upset about.

This part of their employee slim-down program. :sarcasm:

I have worked for employers who did the same. It is about time these groups were busted!

[HockeyMom]

15. Depends

I read a piece in my local paper when one employee said she started wearing DEPENDS because they weren't even allowing them BATHROOM breaks.

[hippiechick]

16. Ok, regardless of how 'small' the fine is ...

... it sets PRECEDENT.
They can be sued for such unfair preactices AGAIN, elsewhere.
OSHA should have them on their radar now.
And now it's in the MSM for knuckle-draggers to actually REALIZE how their beloved 'low price leader' treats its employees.

I think this was a shot across the bow to Wal-Mart, personally.

[bluestateguy]

17. Scumbag lawyers from WalMart will appeal

And how much will the lawyers take for themselves? These settlements always annoy me. They are trumpeted as big victories for common people,
but then scumbag lawyers make all the real money, while the ordinary folks get table scraps: sa free video rental, or a few dollars credited back to your account, or a little check which has been watered down to nothing by endless appeals, lawyer fees and paper pushing!

And I'm damn sick and tired of appeals clogging up our court system.

[texpatriot2004]

18. Cool. A smackdown of Satan's Superstore nm

[unblock]

20. 3 years from now, they'll settle for $50 of store credit per employee.

it ain't nothing 'til they pony up the big bucks.

[spooky3]

21. don't get discouraged--there are other huge lawsuits still pending

against Wal-Mart, including a huge class action discrimination suit. This may be the start of a good trend.

[trixie]

31. I agree, it is the beginning of a trend

People who shop at Walmart don't see that they are perpetuating the steamroller. I had to actually point out in figures that their "cost" savings aren't really savings at all. When you show them the tax cuts, the increase in public assistance etc for them that comes out of the local revenue they finally see it. Walmart comes into an area and decimates the economy and leaves. More cases like this will help in combating them to build in your area in the first place.

[caligirl]

22. One more case pending in SFO, womens unequal pay suit $$$$

[lovuian]

24. I believe this is going on and all over...

Good for the judge...

[Zhade]

25. Another reason not to shop there.

NT!

[arikara]

26. How much will they get fined

for not paying workers enough to afford food? That was in the walmart show when they were interviewing a manager who said that he stopped eating in the lunchroom because the employees weren't eating either, they'd all just go in on their breaks and sit... the reason being that the workers couldn't afford food and the manager was too embarassed to eat in front of them.

[Scooter24]

27. And yet they brought in $288 Billion last year

with a net income of over $10 Billion.

[hayu_lol]

30. Yes, lawyers do get a considerable sum for their efforts on behalf of the

stiffed employees. On the other hand, a suit of this magnitude costs a huge amount of money to bring it to trial--with Mall-Wart fighting every inch of the way using every trick in the book.

This takes a huge staff of experienced people and the filing fees/answers/motions cost a bundle. In this case, the people wronged were helped...the lawyers rightly were compensated for taking the initial risk. None of these employees could have afforded, on their own, to pursue justice.

[greiner3]

32. Saw the freep's site about this;

They were saying it was the employee's fault, and crap like that.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1487668/posts

[CarpeDiebold]

34. One of hte dumb

fucks there said osmething like: wally corp is out in NO doing everything they can to help the victims, this is just liberal anti corporation crap...

what. the FUCK does that have to do with breaking the law? these fuckers just piss me off, plain and simple. this isn't political debate, this is some kind of fucking twisted warp zone where in their minds, every little fairy tale they can think of is fool proof debate against rational liberals....


DUMB FUCKING FUCKS. ARGHHHHHHHHHHH so frustrating!!!

[kineneb]

33. Mall-Wart and ilk continue to break "social contract"

to return to late 19th century conditions. Will it take another Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to wake up the public?

[NYC]

36. Yes, I believe it will.

Very sad.

[lonestarnot]

35. Not an exemplary damage. This is squirrel food!

[leftofthedial]

37. woo hoo! double whopper for each employee

now get back to work

and I don't want to see any charges for overtime either!