Jury orders Walmart to pay $ 125 million after firing worker with Down syndrome

Walmart Inc. lost a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin when a jury sided with a salesperson with Down syndrome and alleged the company fired her because of her disability.

Marlo Spaeth worked for Walmart for about 16 years before being fired from her Manitowoc store in 2015 due to excessive absenteeism. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit says Spaeth’s work schedule changed after Walmart rolled out a new computerized system in 2014, causing him significant hardship .

Spaeth’s condition requires that she maintain a rigid schedule of daily activities, according to the lawsuit. Spaeth demanded that she be allowed to return to her previous work schedule from noon to 4 p.m. because if she did not have dinner at the same time every night she would fall ill, according to the lawsuit. Instead of reverting her to the old schedule, Walmart fired her, Spaeth alleged. Walmart also refused to rehire her when Spaeth requested it, according to the lawsuit.

“Ms. Spaeth’s request was simple and denying it profoundly changed her life,” Julianne Bowman, Chicago district director for the EEOC, said in a statement.

The Green Bay federal court jury awarded Marlo Spaeth more than $ 125 million in punitive damages on Thursday. The jury also awarded Spaeth $ 150,000 in compensatory damages, the EEOC said on Friday when announcing the decision.

Reduced damage

“The substantial jury verdict in this case sends a strong message to employers that discrimination based on disability is unacceptable in our country’s workplaces,” EEOC President Charlotte Burrows said in a statement.

Walmart will likely pay a lot less than the substantial jury verdict. A spokesperson for the company told The Associated Press on Friday that the damage would be reduced to the maximum allowed, which is $ 300,000.

Spokesman Randy Hargrove said the retail giant is examining its legal options and said Walmart does not tolerate any form of discrimination and regularly welcomes thousands of employees each year.

“We often adjust Associate schedules to meet the expectations of our clients and although Ms. Spaeth’s schedule was adjusted, it remained within the timelines that she indicated she was available,” said Hargrove. “We are sensitive to this situation and believe we could have resolved this issue with Ms. Spaeth, but the EEOC’s requests were unreasonable.”

The jury found that Walmart did not take Spaeth’s disability into account and fired her because of it, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the EEOC said.