okay, this story absolutely sickens me (and if you find after reading it that it sickens you too, i recommend reposting it on your blog or emailing the info to your friends and family)
so the other night, while watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann, his "Worst Person in the World" was Wal-mart.
why?
HERE'S THE CNN ARTICLE ABOUT IT >>
but, in a nutshell: a former employee of wal-mart (Debbie Shank) had paid for her health insurance (there was fine print that said that wal-mart has the right to collect any monies from the person in the case that there is a settlement - that doesn't mean that they are required to, but it just means that wal-mart, if they so desire, can be reimbursed if someone gets money if something happens)
that said, Debbie Shank's minivan was hit by a semi-tractor trailer. She now is brain damaged and has NO short term memory.
Sure. no short term memory, funny stuff like in "50 First Dates" with Sandler/Barrymore --- but, when your son dies shortly after - i say "dies" when i should have written "was killed in Iraq serving our country" - you still think that he's alive and every time that someone tells you that he is dead, it's like she is hearing it for the first time. every. single. time.
After the accident, they had received $1million from the trucking company. After legal fees, though, they had $417,000 left and put it into a trust for Debbie and her long term care. That's where Wal-mart stepped in to "claim" $470,000. This from a company who had $90 million in sales in their last quarter.
her husband is still with her, but had to divorce her so she could get more financing (paraphrasing here.)
they've set up at any Bank of America "The Debbie Shank Fund" (on cnn, they called it "The Deborah Shank Fund") if anyone wants to send them any type of help/money
walk into any "Bank of America" and say that they want to donate to "The Debbie Shank Fund." If your particular branch doesn't know about it, tell them they need to contact the branches in Jackson, Missouri to get the information (573.339.6500)
If you don't have access to a Bank of America you can send checks or money orders to:
Bank of America
320 W. Main
Jackson, MO 63755
c/o "The Debbie Shank Fund"
Phone: 573.339.6500
Whatchoosayin'?? (7 yapped)
I was married to a Wal-Mart truck driver for longer than I care to admit. Let me just say, Wal-Mart isn't what they say they are.
Posted by tricia | March 29, 2008 9:02 AM
wow, now i know where Satan buys his starter logs
Posted by furiousball | March 29, 2008 10:16 AM
I heard about this on the news.....it beyond disgusting...you wish every Walmart customer could know this before they went shopping there...the sad part is it probably wouldnt make a difference.
Posted by Stacy | March 29, 2008 6:36 PM
I've had my head buried in promoting for days.... I need my daily GC infusion.... GC, where are you???? Any tidbit will do.... ;-)
Posted by Tricia | March 30, 2008 10:48 AM
That just infuriates me! I can't stand that frickin store. How much you wanna bet that although Walmart feels very sorry for her, that the same fine print is still in their health insurance policy? Probably is in mine too, unfortunately.
Posted by Julie | March 31, 2008 10:59 AM
Thanks to all the media attention and wonderful people like you who helped spread her story like wildfire, Walmart has been backed in a public relations nightmare corner (WOOHOO) and they have reversed their decision. (This is pretty local news for us) Her husband (ex, he had to divorce her so she would qualify state benefits - the system is so screwed up) was interviewed yesterday and is still skeptical as to what will actually happen. Thanks to everyone out there who passed along this story, prayed and/or sent donations to help Debbie!
Posted by Denise | April 2, 2008 11:51 AM
Speaking of Wal-Mart treating its employees like crap, have you seen this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2GpYjODgVk
It's from the secret 30-year archive of videos of internal Wal-Mart meetings. Seeing videos like this kind of puts into context that Wal-Mart is the subject of the biggest class-action discrimination suit in history. They're currently being sued by 1.6 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees who charge the company with paying women less and offering them fewer opportunities for promotion.
Posted by Erie | April 10, 2008 1:58 PM