Former MA Wal-Mart Worker Wins nearly $2M Jury Award

June 22, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.COM) - A female Wal-Mart employee walked away from a Massachusetts state court with a jury award of nearly $2 million after jurors found the giant retailer underpaid her and then fired her because of her gender.

A Reuters news reportsaid plaintiff Cynthia Haddad worked at Wal-Mart as a pharmacist from 1993 through 2004 before the company fired her, according to court papers.

In her suit, Haddad alleged Wal-Mart had discharged her after she insisted that the company pay her the wage differential and bonuses she was owed for filling a managerial position on an interim basis. Her report to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of some missing medications also earned her a reprimand, Haddad claimed.

According to her suit, Wal-Mart officials told her she had been fired for failing to keep the pharmacy secure, Reuters said.

“We respect the jury’s decision but we feel that it did not reflect the facts in the case, so we are studying the decision and have not ruled out an appeal,” Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley told Reuters in a phone interview. “Ms. Haddad was dismissed because of numerous violations of company policy.”

This is not the first time Wal-Mart has been hit with complaints of underpaying its workers (See Wal-Mart Held down Plan Contributions with ‘Time Shaving’ Scheme ). It is also facing the biggest sexual discrimination case in U.S. history, which has been granted class-action status (See 9th Circuit Clears Road for Wal-Mart Gender Discrimination Class Action ). Plaintiffs in that suit claim that the company underpaid and underpromoted women.

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