Donuts And Politics

I’ll be right up front about this: I dislike Walmart. In fact, I hate Walmart. Walmart is a major cause for the job losses in this country. Walmart embodies just about everything bad about corporate American greed. And no, we do not ever shop there in case you were wondering. But THIS is just outrageous:

Debbie Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home. It was the beginning of a series of battles — both personal and legal — that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart’s health plan.

Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart’s health and benefits plan. Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank’s long-term care.

Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank’s medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family’s trust. The Shanks didn’t notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart’s health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.

The Shanks lost their suit to Wal-Mart. Last summer, the couple appealed the ruling — but also lost it. One week later, their son was killed in Iraq. The family’s situation is so dire that last year Jim Shank divorced Debbie, so she could receive more money from Medicaid.

Jim Shank, 54, is recovering from prostate cancer, works two jobs and struggles to pay the bills. He’s afraid he won’t be able to send their youngest son to college and pay for his and Debbie’s care. “Who needs the money more? A disabled lady in a wheelchair with no future, whatsoever, or does Wal-Mart need $90 billion, plus $200,000?” he asked.

Keith Olberman has this:

Yeah, who runs the PR department at Walmart, Matt Millen? Are you kidding me? A company that makes $11 billion a year in pure PROFIT, feels the need to sue ITS OWN EMPLOYEES to recover heath care costs. Actually, its shocking that Walmart even provided this lady with health care, usually they try to get their employees on Medicare or Medicaid. This lady’s son died in Iraq fighting for this country and Walmart wants to steal $470,000 from his injured mother. Just one more reason to stop shopping at Walmart. They don’t treat their employees right, even their injured, brain-damaged, wheelchair bound employees.

After all that, Walmart finally relented under the intense public pressure. All the negative publicity could have been easily avoided if Walmart was a company that actually cared about its employees and the US population. But, it cares more about profits and greed:

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is dropping a controversial effort to collect over $400,000 in health care reimbursement from a former employee who is confined to a southeast Missouri nursing home since she suffered brain damage in a traffic accident.

The world’s largest retailer said Tuesday in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank it will not seek to collect money the Shanks won in an injury lawsuit against a trucking company for the accident.

Side Note: If you want to read a GREAT book about Walmart, try “The Walmart Effect” by Charles Fishman. Its an unbiased account of what effect, both good and bad, Walmart has had on business and the country in general.

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