Comments on: Wal-Mart Backs Down in its Litigation Against Brain Damaged Former Employee

By: Buddha Is Laughing

Buddha Is Laughing — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:34:06 +0000

What part of “she shouldn’t have had to go to court” didn’t you understand? What part of “material misrepresentation” and “insurance fraud” didn’t you understand? What part of “victim” did you not get?

Her attorney’s fees are not the issue.

But for Wal-Mart’s wrongdoing, this woman would have never had to go to court.

Enjoy your day job as a greeter, ogm, but I suggest shying away from legal analysis.

By: oldgraymare

oldgraymare — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:57:30 +0000

This was a link from another WalMart story. After reading this blog and the replies, I have a question: The poor woman got a million dollar settlement but was left with only $417,000 because FEES and costs ate up 585,000 and WalMart is the only one exhibiting greed here?

By: Discounting History: Wal-Mart Declares War on U.S. History « JONATHAN TURLEY

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 14:34:28 +0000

[...] has a dark reputation for its treatment of employees, wiping out of small local businesses, and thuggish litigation practices. Now, it has decided to go to war with historians in trying to force through a huge store in the [...]

By: RIAA Sues Transplant Patient for Copyright Violations and Then Secures a Default for Not Responding to the Complaint « JONATHAN TURLEY

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:34:08 +0000

[...] Like the recent excessive lawsuit by Wal-Mart attorneys, this story raises questions over the judgment and priorities of legal [...]

By: Newsome L

Newsome L — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:15:18 +0000

Yes, corporations do horrible things. Americans got enraged over this Wal-Mart story and Debbie Shank got her money back. That’s ONE person with TBI who got some money, out of 5.4 million survivors in this country!

My point is that we, as human beings (rather than corporate entities), could do a lot more good by focusing our energy on helping each other, rather than complaining about companies that don’t “do the right thing”.

We need more education and awareness of TBI’s. We need to try to make a real connection with each other!

By: Human

Human — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:21:32 +0000

Hooray! We still are swearing off Wal Mart though. The Boss was fuming when I told her about this. If I ever step inside their door again I’ll find myself homeless.

By: Make Them Accountable / Media

Make Them Accountable / Media — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:59:25 +0000

[...] Wal-Mart Backs Down in its Litigation Against Brain Damaged Former Employee (by Jonathan Turley) It appears that the national outcry over Wal-Mart’s litigation against Deborah Shank — a brain-damaged former employee — has forced the giant corporation to back off. It will no longer try to collect $400,000 from Shank and her cancer-victim husband. The company chose April Fool’s Day to send a letter to Shank that it has decided to drop its effort to take money that she won in an injury lawsuit against a trucking company that left her brain damaged. Wal-Mart’s top executive for human resources, Pat Curran, simply said that the company spontaneously decided to reexamine its policy in the case — not mentioning media stories condemning the heartless litigation campaign against the Shanks. The problem, of course, is that the store forced this family to litigate this case while trying to pay bills and grieve for a lost son. It was not the humanity but the publicity that drove the change of heart. Calling people (and corporations) out when they act irresponsibly works. Too bad we don’t do it more often. [...]

By: mespo727272

mespo727272 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:35:40 +0000

As a final thought on this topic of corporate social responsibility, I add the words of the founder of modern capitalism writing not in his magnum opus, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, but in the more contemplative work, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments”. Smith wrote:

“As society cannot subsist unless the laws of justice are tolerably observed, as no social intercourse can take place among men who do not generally abstain from injuring one another; the consideration of this necessity, it has been thought, was the ground upon which we approved of the enforcement of the laws of justice by the punishment of those who violated them.”

Vanquishing, I hope, the infuriating excuse for corporate irresponsibility that “it’s just business,” from the lexicon.

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:24:09 +0000

What Susan and mespo said!

By: mespo727272

mespo727272 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:00:08 +0000

Corporations are legal entities only. Their status is a legal fiction since there is no corporal body to indict or prosecute or sue. They act only through their agents and employees. They are the responsibility of their officers and directors, and their debts are ultimately paid by their stockholders. Anything else is corporate propaganda to avoid accountability.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:12:36 +0000

I’ve come to the conclusion that’s what corporation CEOs want us to BELIEVE, that there’s no one person that can be held accountable for anything the corporation does. But since we know THAT belief is a crock, we need to keep challenging and questioning their other ones. You know, the beliefs that they are “not responsible” when a defective product kills people, or a heartless corporation CEO (or whomever) makes the decision to sue an innocent person like Debbie Shank.

By: mespo727272

mespo727272 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:53:43 +0000

Newsome:

Should we really expect corporations to “do the right thing”? Bottom line: the ONLY responsibility corporations have is to turn a profit. That’s IT.

*************

Who run’s the corporations, robots?

By: Newsome L

Newsome L — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:25:26 +0000

I think it’s time to move on, past all the finger-pointing and do what we can to help the real problems of this country. Should we really expect corporations to “do the right thing”? Bottom line: the ONLY responsibility corporations have is to turn a profit. That’s IT. They’re going to continue screwing over as many people as possible.

This story should be motivation for each of us to do our part to educate ourselves about brain injury and further discuss the inadequacies in the realms of health insurance and treatment options.
There are 5.4 million people in the US living with the effects of traumatic brain injury, and 1.5 million new injuries per year! Most of these people are suffering silently, ignored by the masses and getting no money at all to help treat their condition. Please visit my blog and join the discussion! http://www.brainandspinalcord.org