I Just Got Off The Phone With A Reporter

[THUNDER HANDS]

Who is doing a story on Wal-Mart and how they handle black friday and the security there.

I told her everything I knew from my experience working there.

It'll be in tomorrow's paper.





I'm excited and nervous and angry all at the same time.



She said she'd try to find out who the lawyer the family hired is so I can talk to them.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Good for you!

I'm so proud of your courage!

[rosesaylavee]

2. Excellent

Thank you for doing what you can to get the truth out. Not everyone would.

K & R

[sandnsea]

3. Yeah You!!

But please keep your mind open to hearing all the facts, to make sure we find out whether the problem is phony p&p manual, pressure on the store manager to ignore policies, etc. Maybe if somebody put a little pressure on that store manager, where he might be charged with some kind of negligence, he'd be a little songbird.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. I think i might know the store manager

he was an assistant manager at my store when I started there, before he became store manager in valley stream. I don't know if he's the current store manager though.

[sandnsea]

7. Well he's got to talk

if things are ever going to change. If you think you know him, maybe you can make a gentle phone call or something. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened, and it could have happened at just about any of the retail chains.

[hlthe2b]

9. He (Store Manager) may be totally at fault... he'll be scapegoated

by Walmart Corporate Drones, regardless.... I would hate to hear after the fact that the management at that store had asked for additional security measures, been denied by Corporate, and then took the complete fall on this (including the understandable public condemnation and hate).... Is that even remotely a possibility?

[hlthe2b]

15. Magic Rat, did you find out if the guy you knew WAS the manager?

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. Would it be online?

Do they list their managers on their websites? Some stores do.

[MinneapolisMatt]

5. The world needs more people like you.

BRAVO!

[libnnc]

6. thank you

People need to know the truth about this kind of irresponsible retailing. Walmart is responsible for this. 100 percent.

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. Thank you.

You may actually make a difference, and/or save a life.

[Breeze54]

10. You rock!!

:yourock:

:kick: & Recommended

[myrna minx]

11. Thank you. I hope your brave actions will make a difference.

I still can't get over the horror of what happened yesterday. My heart aches for his family.

[City Lights]

12. Three cheers for you, Magic Rat!

:woohoo: :bounce: :toast:

Thank you for speaking out!

[liberalmuse]

13. That is awesome, Magic Rat.

That story makes me sick. That man had a family, and people who loved him. People can be like a herd of animals if you treat them as such, and it is a known fact that the bigger the crowd, the lower the collective IQ. Wal-Mart created the atmosphere that contributed to this man's death. I do feel the people are to blame as well. I mean, we may behave like animals, but the bottom line is, we are capable of so much more and I'm not willing to accept the excuses some are trying to make for the crowd's behavior. Dammit, we're better than that.

It makes me angry that stores like Wal-Mart pull this every damn year, and every year we hear about someone getting seriously injured or killed. This needs to stop. I'm very proud that a fellow DUer is doing their part to get the word out about a practice that is dangerous and needs to stop.

[2Design]

14. good

[Spectral Music]

16. Magic Rat, what is the policy for training temporary employees like this victim?

The guy who was trampled was a temp--a security guard hired for one day. Security guards are not trained like cops and some are not paid terribly well. This guy was a temp and was stationed in the most dangerous spot in Wal Mart on a Black Friday: the entrance. The regular employees and store managers, who knew the store clientele better, were certainly better prepared to stand at the front door than this poor guy. What, if anything, does Wal Mart do for guys like this to prepare them?

[Donnachaidh]

17. I wonder if this temp was hired through an outside agency?

This could be important -- because if he was then Walmart could *potentially* slip the responsibility totally and place it on the temp agency's head.

Not FAIR -- but a big possibility. Any way of finding this out?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. Actually, it's better that he was working for a temp agency.

Employees (or their families) are entitled only to workers' compensation benefits if they are injured or killed. If he had been an actual employee of Wal-Mart, his family's remedy would be limited to workers' comp death benefits. Since he was apparently a contractor, however, his family should still have the right to sue Wal-Mart.

[rainbow4321]

22. One report said he had been there only 4 days

He took the position at Wal-Mart after losing his previous customer service rep job.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11292008/news/regionalnews/victims_life_a_struggle_141388.htm

Stampede victim Jdimytai Damour was just one of millions of Americans who lost his job recently in this tough economy.

"He was a good kid, he'd help anyone out," said pal Ronald Jean. "He wanted to be a teacher. He talked about going back to school. He loved reading, and he wrote his own poetry."

Damour's mom, Marie Telismond, spent many years working as a housekeeper at the famed Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue before returning to her native Haiti.

She was flying in from Port-au-Prince last night to make arrangements to bury her son.



http://www.nypost.com/seven/11292008/news/regionalnews/killer_tide_at_shop_of_horror_141344.htm

Then, at 5:03 a.m., Jdimytai Damour, 34 - hired just for the holiday rush - opened the door, and a frenzied horde of hundreds surged forward, knocking him to the ground and crushing him, police said.

Damour's co-workers also were stunned.

"He was killed to save a few dollars. They didn't have to do it; there were more than enough TVs to go around," said Stephen Manning, 20. "He was here only four days. Last year, they only bent the door. People are insane."

[Doremus]

28. "Last year, they only bent the door." How much WARNING do they need????

So last year they "only" bent the door. For cripesake, at what point do you say "Gee, we'd better figure out a way to keep the crush away from the door"????

Oh yeah, this is totally, entirely, COMPLETELY WalPuke's fault. They are criminally negligent as far as I'm concerned.


And to those still repeating the mantra that this is the fault of the people in line, PLEASE use your heads. The people in front are being pushed from BEHIND. Those in back CANNOT see what's going on in front. You cannot stop in a stampede or you become the next dead person they're running over.

Stop blaming the victims of WalPuke's negligence PLEASE.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. He wasn't a security guard; he was a stocker

[Spectral Music]

23. True. He was a temporary maintenance worker. Why they sent one unarmed man to the door

(a temp at that) makes no sense to me. You've got an unruly crowd, you send the guys with firepower to open the doors.

[ColbertWatcher]

27. Unarmed, untrained man.

I bet they put him at the door because he was tall.

[Spectral Music]

29. Totally stupid if you ask me.

Poor guy. :(

[ColbertWatcher]

30. Apparently "stupid" is Wal-Mart's company policy. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Excellent!

Be sure to keep us in the loop on this.

[uppityperson]

24. Good, thank you, congratulations and hang in there.

[uppityperson]

25. delete dupe, but still, thank you

[ColbertWatcher]

26. YES! Please post a link when you can! k+r, n/t

[Kablooie]

31. The problem is that there's virtually no way to punish Walmart.

The government could fine them the full 700 billion dollars and it would still just be pocket change to them.

[JDwho]

32. We could stop shopping there?

That would be pocket change, too. Not enough people would do it in this economy, with their prices so much lower than he local grocer, retailer, etc...
But, it's a nice dream. Imagine the headline: America Boycotts WalMart!!!

Edit to say "Thank You Magic Rat, for stepping up". recommend.

[orleans]

33. good. k&r n/t

[Hannah Bell]

34. kudos.

[me b zola]

35. Thank you

:thumbsup:

[judasdisney]

36. Was it a FOX "News" or Murdoch-affiliated reporter? Gulp

[H2O Man]

37. Very good.

Nominated.

[Tesla]

38. Freedom of Speech is a beautiful thing

Thanks for exercising it!!

[hlthe2b]

39. Hello, Magic Rat: What happened with the news story?

Please check back in and give us a link if you can. :toast: