Wal mart respect ?

[Dobieman]

I dont have a problem with them getting what they paid out back, this is a common deal with insurance. Like someone else said the lawyers for the victim failed to get a good enough settlement and should have known what was going to happen. The lawyer got his fee I guarantee it.
Now having said that I despise Walmart and do not shop there. They have a history of treating employees poorly and they have the money to be a very good employer but greed is king at Walmart and people are a commodity like
the products they sell. The used to talk about USA sourced products.....you might as well send your money directly to China.

Stores are zoo and local business suffer.
I like saving money like the next guy but I will spend more elsewhere, thank you very much.

 

[PandaNin]

When I heard about this the other day I was a bit aghast. I understand that the contract says you'll pay back any monies paid out if a settlement is reached however why is no one looking at the attorneys? They won $1M yet they only have $417,000. The rest went to attorney's fees. The attorney's should have been protecting her interests and taken into account that WM insurance would be coming back for the monies they expended.

Regardless of who's legally and/or morally right this family needs help.

https://secure.walmartwatch.com/page/contribute/helptheshanks

I contributed and I hope everyone else will do what they can. I did it to honor the memory of their son.

 

[Don Hardcastle]

Here is a perfect example of those lawsuits we were talking about.....

Woman headed to alcohol rehabilitation center
Woman misses flight
Woman flies in rage
Woman is uncooperative" and resisted arrest
Woman is handcuffed and taken to holding cell
Woman tries to escape and accidentally hangs herself

Husband sues Airport for 8 million......

I quote the article "the officers responded to Carol exactly the way her husband knew they would respond because they did not have critical information known only to the Gotbaum family"

If the husband new his wife was having mental problems why wasnt he there with her getting her on the plane or taking her to rehab? So this guys decides to sue the airport for taking care of a situation.

WHERE IS PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THIS COUNTRY


Family seeks $8 million in airport deathStory Highlights
   
(CNN) -- The family of a woman who died last year while in police custody at Phoenix, Arizona's, Sky Harbor International Airport filed an $8 million claim Wednesday against the city of Phoenix and its police department, the first step in filing a wrongful death suit.

Carol Gotbaum, shown in an undated family photo, died accidentally, a medical examiner said.

1 of 2 Carol Gotbaum, a 45-year-old mother of three from New York traveling to Tucson, Arizona, to enter an alcohol rehabilitation center, was taken into custody by Phoenix police on September 28 after she missed her connecting flight and flew into a rage.

She was left alone in a holding cell at the airport and subsequently died, accidentally strangling herself while trying to escape her handcuffs.

The claim accuses the Police Department of using "excessive and unreasonable force" on Gotbaum and failing to follow its own procedures in handling people who are obviously disturbed.

"Good people here made lethal, unreasonable mistakes, with catastrophic results for Carol, her three small children and for her husband," the claim says.

Gotbaum was treated "as if she was a dangerous criminal, rather than as a sick, intoxicated and vulnerable person she was," it says. "She had no weapon and never threatened anyone."

City attorneys responded to the claim, saying that police officers acted properly and responsibly in restraining Gotbaum.

"The Gotbaum family has publicly admitted, not only that Carol hid her medical and mental condition, but that the officers responded to Carol exactly the way her husband knew they would respond because they did not have critical information known only to the Gotbaum family," city attorneys representing the Police Department wrote.

Gotbaum, the stepdaughter-in-law of New York public advocate Betsy Gotbaum, became agitated after missing her flight when gate agents were unable to seat her on a subsequent flight. Airport surveillance video shows Gotbaum's arrest, with police officers struggling to handcuff her.

Police reports say she was "uncooperative" and resisted arrest, screaming during their attempts to escort her out of the airport terminal.

She was accused of disorderly conduct and placed in a holding cell at the airport, where she continued to scream for several minutes after police left the room. Shortly after she stopped screaming, an officer found her unconscious, and rescuers were unable to resuscitate her. The Maricopa County medical examiner ruled that her death was an accidental hanging

I know a little thread jack but,

In this instance, I don't see how the airport officers could be held responsible for the death of that woman.

In the 1989 Supreme Court ruling of Graham VS Conner, the court ruled that an officer can not be held responsible for information they were unaware at the time of the incident.

"The Gotbaum family has publicly admitted, not only that Carol hid her medical and mental condition, but that the officers responded to Carol exactly the way her husband knew they would respond because they did not have critical information known only to the Gotbaum family."

As far as the Wal-mart thing, I think they were perfectly within thier rights by trying to recoup the money.

Don

 

[Mr Bogus]

Why should Wal-Mart be expected to pay when the trucking company is obviously at fault and should be the responsible party?

And that is exactly the point, Walmart covered the expenses when they really did not have to.. Captain understands the issue very well... it is abuses of the system that have created this "Big bad corporate" thing when they were being the nice guy in the first place..

I get several letters a month from pt's that want "letters" describing their "disability" in length so they can get life time benefits... it is disgusting...

I would ask any medical worker this: (and you better stand back)

"How many people on disability that you see, should be on it in the first place?" These are people on a 100% free boat ride from either SS or some other govt agency or some insurance co...

 

[frisbee]

I had to pay all my bills when I got my settlement . But I don't like walmart.

 

[Fate]

if i worked for Wal-Mart (which thankfully i don't) i would definitely want them to recoup their money that they had paid out for her care...if they don't, that is going to raise the premiums for everyone that is still in the plan...i don't feel it should be my responsibility to end up paying for care which should be paid by the trucking company...just my  

don't get me wrong, i feel sorry for this lady and her family but they obviously did not have very good representation in court...they did not get a big enough settlement from the trucking company to cover her care and that is no one's fault but their own

I completely agree. It is the family and attorneys fault for not suing and settling for a larger amount than just medical bills. If you wreck your bike and have injuries because of someone else and your insurance pays the bills first to make sure you get covered at hospital, then settle and they grant you a settlement and medical expenses, they can take there money back. It is the same for any insurance company.

for Walmart covering their employee in the first place. Just because they are a multi-billion dollar company, they deserve to be compensated back for their money. It is not their fault the lady was hit by a truck. The truck company is responsible and should have been sued for more $$...

 

[99'busa]

It's too bad the lawyers have twisted the laws around now so that a big corporation who's action caused a person's injuries, is not held responsible for the action. Laws be what they are, We need honest judges and jurys to change this, not more lawyers.Right is right, and wrong is wrong, anyone knows that.

As long as the lawyers are raking in the big bucks, and so many of those lawyers are also lawmakers, we're screwed...

I'm fond of the lawsuits for the "oh, I didn't know coffee was hot" or the "I didn't realize my overweight rear would break the tiny lawn chair and cause injury"...people nowadays LOOK for reasons to sue, and there will always be lawyers out there willing to dig up a "good reason" to take the case...only good reason for those involved is the mighty dollar...

I didnt know eating 2 big macs a day was the cause of my obesity. someone else is resposible for my declining health now

 

[blitzburgh]

Looks like bad publicity changes even Wal-Marts mind.

On Saturday's Nightly News, NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent Lisa Myers reported on Deborah Shank, a former employee of Wal-Mart permanently disabled in a car accident eight years ago. Wal-Mart's health plan had moved to collect some of the settlement money she won in a lawsuit against a trucking firm in order to reimburse itself for the more than $470,000 in medical expenses it had paid for Shank.

Although it had just contacted Shank's attorney to begin the process of actually collecting the money from Shank and her husband, Wal-Mart announced Tuesday it had reversed its decision and said that it no longer will seek any reimbursement from the Shanks.

 

[Glyn]

Mighty nice of them...

(CNN) -- A former Wal-Mart employee who suffered severe brain damage in a traffic accident won't have to pay back the company for the cost of her medical care, Wal-Mart told the family Tuesday.
Debbie Shank

Occasionally, others help us step back and look at a situation in a different way. This is one of those times," Wal-Mart Executive Vice President Pat Curran said in a letter. "We have all been moved by Ms. Shank's extraordinary situation."

Eight years ago, Debbie Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.

After a tractor-trailer slammed into her minivan, the 52-year-old mother of three lost much of her short-term memory and was confined to a wheelchair. She now lives in a nursing home.

She also lost her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, who was killed shortly after arriving in Iraq. When Debbie Shank asks family members how her son is doing and they remind her that he's dead, she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.

Wal-Mart's health care plan lets the retail giant recoup the cost of its expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit. And Wal-Mart set out to do just that after Shank and her husband, Jim, won $1 million after suing the trucking company involved in the wreck. After legal fees, the couple received $417,000.

Wal-Mart sued the Shanks to recoup $470,000 it paid for her medical care. However, a court ruled that the company could only recoup about $275,000 -- the amount that was left in a trust fund for her care.

The Shanks appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court declined in March to hear the case. CNN told the couple's story last week, prompting thousands of angry blog responses and at least two online petitions to boycott the company.
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* Brain-damaged woman at center of Wal-Mart suit

On Tuesday, Wal-Mart said in a letter to Jim Shank that it is modifying its health care plan to allow "more discretion" in individual cases.Video Watch Wal-Mart reverse its decision »

"We wanted you to know that Wal-Mart will not seek any reimbursement for the money already spent on Ms. Shank's care, and we will work with you to ensure the remaining amounts in the trust can be used for her ongoing care," Curran said.

"We are sorry for any additional stress this uncertainty has placed on you and your family."

Wal-Mart's reversal came as shock to Shank.
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"I thought it was an April Fool's joke," he told CNN.

"I (would) just like to let them know that they did the right thing. I just wish it hadn't taken so long," Shank said. "But I thank them and I hope they come through with all that they said they're going to do.