LAT: Wal-Mart Memo May Raise Litigation Risk ("cesspool of violations")

[DeepModem Mom]

Wal-Mart Memo May Raise Litigation Risk
Employee-rights lawyers say the retailer could face additional discrimination claims.

By Molly Selvin and Lisa Girion, Times Staff Writers


Lawyers for employers and employees agree: A leaked Wal-Mart memo proposing ways to cut healthcare costs could mean big legal trouble for the world's largest retailer.

Even if the company accepts none of the questionable suggestions it contains, the memo will furnish plaintiffs' attorneys with evidence to argue that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. discriminates against some workers, said Jeffrey Winikow, a Century City employee-rights lawyer. "The memo is a cesspool of legal violations."

The memo — acquired and publicized this week by Wal-Mart Watch, a nonprofit group allied with labor unions — virtually guarantees that the retailer, which already is fighting class-action lawsuits over its hiring and promotion practices, will face a slew of new discrimination claims, Winikow said.

Writing to Wal-Mart's board of directors in advance of their meeting next month, Executive Vice President of Benefits Susan Chambers proposed that benefits be redesigned to attract a "healthier, more productive workforce," potentially saving $670 million by 2011....

***

Employment rules that discriminate against workers on the basis of age or a permanent physical disability run afoul of federal and state laws, whether the discrimination is intentional or not. The laws usually require employers to make reasonable accommodations for a worker's physical disabilities, including chronic medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease....


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-walmart28oct28,0,4947455.story?coll=la-home-business

[JPZenger]

1. Simple response by WalMart

All Walmart needs to do is to say this was one memo by one renegade executive, and was not company policy. Then they "fire" her, and pay her a nice sum of money as a hush payment.

A public radio show had a good commentary on this memo. They said the memo showed that Walmart was very public relations concious and trying to find some way to get public relations mileage out of their health insurance policies - without spending any more money on it.



"SprawlMart - Not in any way intended to make fun of WalMart"
- Sign on a Simpsons episode

[holboz]

5. Right on. Or they'll move her to Wal-Mex

I've known of a few "WM troublemakers" who were removed from Wal-Mart and moved to Wal-Mex or other divisions south of the border.

Yeah, they'll wiggle out of that accusation but I bet there's a savage witch hunt to find the person who leaked that memo.

[brainshrub]

2. Wal-Mart may be keeping track of employee medical records:

I believe that this would be in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which was passed to prevent companies from doing what Wal-Mart is trying to do.

Here's the link:

Wal-Mart compares personal health records with productivity and satisfaction, implies memo.
Based on a recent internal memo that suggests ways to cut their employees benefits, it appears that Wal-Mart keeps track of its employees medical status, and then compares this personal information to productivity rates and benefit satisfaction.<snip>

While there are many other odious aspects to the memo that are being well-covered in the blogosphere; How does Wal-Mart find a correlation between health status and satisfaction with benefits, unless they have access to both sets of data? Does Wal-Mart breach the trust of it's employees or break the law in order to analyze this deeply personal information?

[patcox2]

3. I have some acqaintance with WalMart's general counsel.

I hope the blame for this lands on his desk, he he he. Suffice to say it would be deserved.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Interesting, patcox2.... nt