If you thought that you knew what kind of company Walmart is

[LTARGlok]

you should read about the horrific way that they have abused this unfortunate former employee, Debbie Shank, that is now brain damaged and totally disabled.

Shame on you WalMart.   I will never, ever again shop at one of your stores, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.   Your behavior here is MONSTROUS and absolutely INHUMAN!

See this story for the full gruesome details:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/03/26/kaye.walmart.update.cnn


 

[Neubob]

Her contract stipulated that if she collected damages on a lawsuit, the company had the right to recoup whatever they spent on her health expenses stemming from the accident in question.

Not nice, not generous, but there was no lying here either. It was in plain language, and knowing this, her lawyer should have pressed for more money from the lawsuit to cover those expenses. The judgement may well have taken this into account, and compensated her accordingly. Unfortunate woman, careless lawyer... In fact, I bet about a thousand other lawyers would gladly take on her original firm in a malpractice case to pull the fees back out of them.

If you expect any corporation to disregard their own rules, or act human, as you say, then you're being too optimistic. Their main purpose on this earth is to make money, and they fulfill that purpose very efficiently.

[Thruster]

It's a fairly common practice for insurers to recoup money paid out from any subsequent settlements. The "professionals" involved in her litigation, including whoever presided over the case should be held fully accountable assuming the plaintiffs were not made aware of this exposure.

They may have trouble should they choose to pursue them. It's hard to find an attorney who will engage another lawyer in a legal malpractice suit unless they are able to find one with an ax to grind.

Shame on CNN for exploiting this family's plight without any attempt to clarify the real issue. 

[lazs2]

ltar.. you probly want to leave the country/state too then cause..

If you collect from the government disability and then get a settlement you have to pay back the money they gave you.

lazs

[Neubob]

They may have trouble should they choose to pursue them. It's hard to find an attorney who will engage another lawyer in a legal malpractice suit unless they are able to find one with an ax to grind.

You sure about that, Thruster? Legal malpractice is emerging as a pretty dominant field of practice right now. There's never a shortage of plaintiff's attorneys out there, and certainly never a shortage of plaintiff's attorneys who have little to no discretion in the cases they take on... Seems like a case like this, especially after the exposure, should cause the biggest turds to come right out of the woodwork.

[Thruster]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure.

Lawyers like low hanging fruit. These people have little money to spend on retainers and I seriously doubt there are but a handful nationwide who will give this case two seconds before passing it to a "colleague".

There's also the issue of karma. It's a small community and I submit that most attorneys would be cautious about shedding light on indiscretions they're probably guilty of themselves.

[Gunslinger]

I saw a Penn and Teller epp. recently that opened up my whole outlook on walmart.  I didn't know that they were the US's LARGEST non-gov employer.  Being the biggest statistically means you are going to have more problems than everyone else.  When you have 6000+ stores you are typically going to have some bad ones and some employment issues.  I can't get the video from here but I just wanted to throw those 3 cents in before this becomes a wallyworld bashing thread.

[Neubob]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure.

Lawyers like low hanging fruit. These people have little money to spend on retainers and I seriously doubt there are but a handful nationwide who will give this case two seconds before passing it to a "colleague".

There's also the issue of karma. It's a small community and I submit that most attorneys would be cautious about shedding light on indiscretions they're probably guilty of themselves.

Yes, they do like low hanging fruit--the good ones who work for reputable firms do, anyway. Within this community, which is numbering close to 2 million now (with more in lawschool now than ever before), there are also plenty who are desperately working court-appointed work just to make ends meet.

Your point about karma is valid, if only it were applied to any other profession. My experience, which is now getting to be pretty extensive, is that there is more hypocritical self-righteous scum in this field than any other. Maybe when I'm actually done lawschool this attitude will change, but somehow I doubt it.

[Jackal1]

Shame on you WalMart.   I will never, ever again shop at one of your stores, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.   Your behavior here is MONSTROUS and absolutely INHUMAN!

You will probably cut down on your shopping expenses then.
You are more than likely spending money at Wal Mart owned businesses and not even know it.

[Thruster]

Neubob,

we're getting way off topic here so I'll be brief.

Recent graduates having a hard time keeping body and soul together don't take contingencies on cases that will undoubtedly wear on for years. Furthermore, a large "reputable" firm (sorry for the contradiction) is probably the only hope they have. They would have the potential pro-bono budget and the horsepower to get the case the attention it would require. And of course the PR angle would be something only a well funded firm would be able to properly exploit.

[Neubob]

Are you an attorney yourself, Thruster?

[Maverick]

It's not an unusual situation by any stretch of the imagination. The same thing happened to me. I was injured in an on the job collision that cost me my job due to disability. I sued and won a settlement. The city placed a lien on the settlement so that they could recoup all of the costs of care including the surgeries. They got their cut before I saw a dime. Funny thing was that the cost of treatment was supposed to be paid by state OSHA funds IIRC, not the city.

[lasersailor184]

Shame on CNN.  I believe they set it up to tell the mother that her son had died on camera just to film the reaction.

[Thruster]

"Are you an attorney yourself, Thruster?"

O.K.

Last post off topic.

I had to read the forum rules again just to be sure but because of rules 4,7, & 15 I'll let that one slide.

[wrongwayric]

There are a lot of instances of money being recouped by corporations/states ect. when settlements come in. I also know that quite a few states will take back all the state aid/welfare that you have been paid if say you win the lottery. I have no love at all for Wal Mart however they did what is fairly common. Her lawyer is the one that should be shot.