Wal-Mart Is Cruel!

A new story about Wal-Mart has been brought to my attention. I must state ahead of time that I never was a big fan of Wal-Mart due to the fact that (as most men) I really hate shopping, and still to this day I do not understand why they only have a couple lanes open at a time considering they do so much business. I hate waiting in the Wal-Mart check out lane so I usually go out to the car and wait on my wife so I don’t get irritated on the rare occasion that I am actually caught inside a Wal-Mart.

However this story has made me sick to my stomach and I doubt my wife and I will ever set foot in another Wal-Mart again!

This story comes straight from CNN and is about a woman in Jackson, Missouri named Debbie Shank. Who’s son was recently killed in Iraq. She is currently 52 years old and is spending her life in a wheelchair inside a nursing home suffering from short-term memory loss. On top of that they have her in a private room in the nursing home due to “severe mood swings and an tendency to scream” as a result of her injury’s.

Two years after the accident her and her husband actually won a law suit against the trucking company that hit her mini van. She was given the amount of 1 million which left her $417,000 after legal fees. This money was placed into a Trust fund to provide for her care in the nursing home.

The health insurance Debbie Shank had through Wal-Mart paid approximately 470,000 in medical expenses for her accident. Which is exactly what the insurance company should have done since she was employed there and her premium was paid up to date. However this policy did contain a clause saying something to the effect that the company has the right to get back any medical expenses if an employee wins a lawsuit regarding the medical incident.

So here is the problem. She went through a major tragedy and after a lawsuit settlement she actually had enough money to be taken care of but Wal-Mart went after her and has sued her for the amount of $470,000! Yes, Wal-Mart actually sued this lady after every thing else she has gone through!

The sad thing is that she was only able to keep $417,000 so Wal-Mart is going after her for a larger amount than she received so they can get back the medical cost they spent on her through the insurance she was paying for!

It amazes me that Wal-Mart is actually suing this brain damaged handy-caped lady for medical expenses that the Insurance she was paying to have covered. Keep in mind that we are talking about a company so large that they reported net sales in the third quarter of $90 billion in 2007!

They make that much money and are going after Debbie Shank for her medical expenses? Is every single person that works in an executive position at Wal-Mart just a really big dick, or can some one show this lady some compassion?

A man by the name of John Simley (Wal-Mart representative I assume) had this to say when asked about Debbie Shank: “Wal-Mart’s plan is bound by very specific rules. … We wish it could be more flexible in Mrs. Shank’s case since her circumstances are clearly extraordinary, but this is done out of fairness to all associates who contribute to, and benefit from, the plan.”

Did he just use the term “fairness”? Is it fair that Debbie Shank was hit by a semi truck? Is it fair that she can not walk like you and I can? Is it fair that she cant even remember her son was killed in Iraq? Is it fair that a company that makes $90 billion in 4 months is suing a handy caped lady for 470,000? Is it fair that this lady is in a private room in a nursing home randomly screaming as a result of her brain injury’s and Wal-Mart is sitting back, counting there billions, and suing her for more? Is it fair?

Debbie Shank’s Lawyer, Maurice Graham was quoted saying: “We assumed after three years, they (Wal-Mart) had made a decision to let Debbie Shank use this money for what it was intended to,” but do you think that is what happened? NO, come to find out Wal-Mart had every intention of getting every penny out of Debbie Shank that they could!

Last summer the Shank family actually lost the lawsuit from Wal-Mart. Of course the Shank family appealed the ruling, but they lost that also. A week after losing the appeal is when Debbie’s son Jeremy Shank was killed in Iraq. Which due to her memory loss is something that she has to learn about and go through every day of her life! But lets not forget the multi-billion dollar Wal-Mart that has to be “fair” and take every penny they can get from her trust fund for her personal care!

If I was running a multi-billion dollar business and Debbie Shank was my employee not only would I have let her keep the money she won from the trucking company (because she deserved it) but I would have given her even more, made sure she had the best medical treatment possible in the region, and I would also have paid out of my own pocket for her sons funeral!

Debbie Shank’s lawyer Graham said “She’ll never be able to work again. Never have a relationship with her husband or children again. The damage she recovered was for much more than just medical expenses.”

So lets do some math…

The Shank Family was “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.” So they had 417,000 dollars. Then Wal-Mart sued for 470,000 dollars which is 53,000 dollars more than what the Shank family was able to keep from their lawsuit. Not to mention the fact that “about $277,000 remains in the trust” so even after Wal-Mart gets every penny out of the Shank’s trust fund Debbie and her husband Jim will still have to come up with 193,000 dollars more! Don’t forget that Wal-Mart themselves said “this is done out of fairness”

Let me ask you (all of my readers) just one question: Is Wal-Marts slogan “Save money. Live better” really worth it? Is it really worth spending our hard earned income in a place that is going to make 90 billion in 4 months and then turn around and take every penny from a brain damaged lady who cant take care of herself? I myself have no intention of ever making another purchase with my money at Wal-Mart!

To see the article straight from CNN click here.

The below video is the CNN News Report: