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A former Walmart employee with Down syndrome, who was fired after raising concerns about her turnover, has been awarded $ 125million (£ 90.7million) following a lawsuit.
Marlo Spaeth worked at a Walmart store in Manitowoc, Wisconsin from 1999 until she was laid off in 2015. Ms. Spaeth has been described by her managers as a “very hard worker.”
At the end of 2014, the store implemented a computerized planning system that analyzed customer traffic to ensure that there would be enough employees working when the store was busiest.
Ms Spaeth changed her noon shift from 4 p.m. to 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., according to The New York Times.
The abrupt change worried Ms Spaeth. Her family reportedly told Walmart after the 2014 shift change, “She’s scared of missing the bus. She is afraid of missing dinner. It is overwhelming for her.
Walmart bosses refused to change his working hours at his family’s request. Mrs Spaeth then received two warnings for absenteeism as well as for delay. Eight months later, the supermarket terminated her contract, then refused to hire her again.
In a ruling on Thursday, a federal court jury in eastern Wisconsin found Walmart violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against anyone with a disability.
“The jury recognized here, and apparently were quite offended, that Ms Spaeth lost her job due to unnecessary – and illegal – inflexibility on the part of Walmart,” said Gregory Gochanour, lawyer at Equal Employment. Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which sued Walmart on behalf of Ms Spaeth.
“Employers of all sizes have a legal obligation to assess the individual circumstances of employees with disabilities when considering requests for reasonable accommodation,” said Julianne Bowman, Chicago District Manager to the EEOC, in a statement.
“Mrs. Spaeth’s request was simple and denying it profoundly changed her life.”
She was awarded $ 125 million, which Walmart said would be reduced to $ 300,000 due to a federal law that caps compensatory and punitive damages at that figure. He also called the EEOC’s lawsuit demands “unreasonable.”
“We do not tolerate any discrimination and we regularly welcome thousands of associates every year,” the supermarket said, in comments reported by Time.
“We often adjust Associate schedules to meet the expectations of our clients and although Ms. Spaeth’s schedule was adjusted, it remained within the timeframes she indicated was available.”
The independent has contacted Walmart for comment.
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