Take Accountability Even If it Hurts
Walmart wants a new trial instead of taking accountability for their lack of equitable support for a long-tenured employee with Down Syndrome.
Walmart is seeking a new trial to avoid paying the court awarded settlement to a terminated employee. The employee has Down Syndrome and worked as an associate for 16 years and recently struggled to adapt to new computerized scheduling which subsequently led to her termination. In February, under the Disabilities Act, a judge and jury awarded her the maximum damages permitted under the law and to reinstate her job. Read the full story here.
The thing that shocks me the most is Walmart’s claim that they weren’t aware that the employee’s Down Syndrome was a contributing factor to the scheduling challenges. How is it, that after 16-years of employment, the Walmart manger wouldn’t take the time to understand why this long-tenured employee was suddenly struggling? What happened to supporting your employees, particularly since your DEI statement claims to “advance equity and inclusion for people with disabilities…”? Second, why did it have to come to a lawsuit to correct this obvious failure to support? Third, based on the fact that they obviously didn’t create an equitable working environment (which was outlined in the findings of the trial) why is it that they’re asking for a new trial instead of taking accountability for the gaps in their actions? Let’s speak dollars and sense (pun intended) for a moment… Walmart is the largest retailer and largest company in the world and is arguing over paying her $300,000 of back-pay and fines. The fact that they would add further delays to this sad scenario is frankly baffling.
The message this sends to other disabled Walmart employees (and other potential candidates), is that your statement of equity and inclusion don’t match your actions. This is definitely a BrandRewindTM moment that is past due. So where should Walmart begin? Start with taking accountability and accepting the judgement from the trial as a lesson learned. You have an employee who is excited and eager to get back to work (every company’s dream), so find ways to support her. Apologize to her, her family and entire community that has been impacted by this story. Your leadership training and policies may need updating or at least holding leaders accountable to ensure they understand what types of equitable practices and reasonable accommodations are needed to support disabilities across your organization. This is why I tell organizations to do equity and inclusion work before putting out their DEI statements.