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Walmart is searching for a brand new trial in a case over the firing of a longtime worker with Down syndrome. A jury in July discovered Walmart wrongfully terminated the worker, Marlo Spaeth, and awarded her financial damages.
In a brand new courtroom submitting out late Tuesday, Walmart stated it didn’t know concerning the hyperlink between Spaeth’s incapacity and her struggles to adapt to a brand new work schedule, which finally led to her firing. Spaeth served as a retailer affiliate at a Walmart SuperCenter in Wisconsin for nearly 16 years.
The large-box retailer additional claims the U.S. Equal Employment Alternative Fee, which represented Spaeth within the case, didn’t present proof that Walmart “discriminated towards her ‘with malice or with reckless indifference to [her] federally protected rights.'” The corporate is asking that the damages ordered to be payed to Spaeth be tossed and that the trial begin anew.
Walmart and the EEOC didn’t instantly reply to request for remark.
The request for a brand new trial extends a years-long battle between Walmart and the EEOC within the incapacity discrimination lawsuit. Walmart, the most important non-public employer within the nation, lost the disability lawsuit final yr towards the EEOC. The federal company took up the case on behalf of Spaeth.
A jury and choose discovered that Walmart violated the Individuals with Disabilities Act when it fired Spaeth somewhat than adjusting her schedule as a “cheap lodging” to her incapacity. Spaeth’s schedule was modified when the Walmart retailer started utilizing a computerized scheduling system.
Spaeth and her sister, Amy Jo Stevenson, repeatedly requested supervisors to revive her outdated schedule however Walmart refused, in accordance with the lawsuit. Walmart started tallying days when Spaeth left the shop early and later fired her for extreme absenteeism.
A federal jury ordered the corporate in July to pay more than $125 million in damages in the lawsuit — one of many highest within the federal company’s historical past for a single sufferer. These damages had been lowered to $300,000, the utmost allowed beneath federal legislation.
In late February, a federal choose ordered Walmart to rehire Spaeth and provides her greater than $50,000 in again pay.Â
Stevenson informed CNBC final week that her sister would quickly return to her job on the Walmart retailer. She stated the pair was firming up Spaeth’s begin date.
For her sister, Stevenson stated the choice was simple – despite the fact that she was fired by Walmart and had not labored on the retailer since 2015. She stated her sister was keen to place her Walmart vest once more and missed the shoppers.
“She’s going to stroll in there proud as a peacock,” Stevenson stated on the time. “That is who she is. She is a Walmart affiliate. To be that once more will make her entire in some sense.”
Stevenson realized of Walmart’s submitting when contacted by CNBC on Wednesday. She declined to touch upon it.
This story is growing. Please examine again for updates.
