A former Walmart employee with Down syndrome has been awarded $125 million in punitive damages after a Green Bay grand jury determined that her firing in 2015 violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Marlo Spaeth worked at the Walmart store in Manitowoc, Wisconsin for nearly 16 years and consistently received positive performance evaluations, but was fired after she filed a disability-related request for a change in hours, according to a news release from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Spaeth’s shift was changed from a 12-4 p.m. shift to a 1-5:30 p.m. shift after the store introduced a computerized scheduling system in 2014. Because of the schedule change, Speath feared she would miss her bus home, and would be forced to miss meals. According to the lawsuit, Spaeth’s condition requires that she maintain a rigid daily schedule, including eating dinner at the same time every night to avoid falling ill.
Despite the request, Walmart bosses refused to switch Spaeth’s schedule back, and eight months later, the retailer terminated her contract and refused to rehire her.
Such alleged conduct violates the ADA, which prohibits discrimination based on an employee’s disability.
Many have expressed outrage on social media by using the hashtag #boycottWalmart.
“The jury here recognized, and apparently was quite offended, that Ms. Spaeth lost her job because of needless — and unlawful — inflexibility on the part of Walmart,” Gregory Gochanour, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, said in the release about the jury’s decision.
“Ms. Spaeth’s request was a simple one and denying it profoundly altered her life,” Julianne Bowman, Chicago District Director, said.
Even though Marlo Spaeth was awarded $125 million, Walmart argued the amount would be reduced to $300,000 because of a federal law that caps compensatory and punitive damages.
“We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind, and we routinely accommodate thousands of associates every year,” Walmart said in remarks reported by The New York Times.
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