Wal-Mart Drops Injured Worker Claim (Olbermann - -> Deborah Shank)

[babylonsister]

Wal-Mart Drops Injured Worker Claim
AP NewsBreak: Wal-Mart Drops $400,000 Reimbursement Claim Against Injured Former Worker
April 01, 2008: 05:46 PM EST


NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is dropping a controversial effort to collect over $400,000 in health care reimbursement from a former employee who is confined to a southeast Missouri nursing home since she suffered brain damage in a traffic accident.

The world's largest retailer said Tuesday in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank it will not seek to collect money the Shanks won in an injury lawsuit against a trucking company for the accident.

Wal-Mart's top executive for human resources, Pat Curran, wrote that Shank's extraordinary situation had made the company re-examine its stance.

Deborah's husband Jim Shank welcomed the news. Family lawyer Maurice Graham of St. Louis said Wal-Mart deserves credit for doing the right thing.

"It's a good day for the Shank family," Jim Shank said in a statement.

more...

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/8070d32f3be6f2f25ebf8e4bda56e349.htm

[polichick]

1. Bless the Shanks - and Keith!

[sasquatch]

2. Off to the front page with you k&r

:kick:

[monmouth]

3. Keith certainly deserves a large portion of the thanks for this. I'm

very happy for the Shanks..

[Cheap_Trick]

4. the hillbots will still hate KO

for not kissing H(R)C's ass. Nice to see Wally World did the right thing, eventually.

[babylonsister]

13. Who cares? Olbermann rocks! nt

[Cant trust em]

20. How is that relevant to this post? NT

[Pale Blue Dot]

24. Although I don't want to drag a fight in here,

there were posters in the previous thread about this accusing KO of being a blatant opportunist who was only in it for himself.

[Cant trust em]

26. Yeah, it should be in GDP.

That's the source of the anti-Olbermannism.

[Raiden]

5. This is great news!

This case was a PR disaster for Wal-Mart. They should have done this a long time ago and they could have avoided this whole mess.

[verdalaven]

54. Ah, but if they had done the right thing.......

I had never heard of the term "Subrogation" before reading this article.

[jeff30997]

76. "Subrogation"

I had no clue either about the meaning of this word.But I have an

excuse:I'm French-Canadian. :)

[PCIntern]

6. K & R...n/t

[Fuzz]

7. Applause

[Fumesucker]

8. Wal-Mart's top executive for human resources, Pat Curran, wrote that Shank's extraordinary situation

Bullshit.. A tsunami of negative publicity is what changed their minds.

If this case had not hit the news, Walmart would still be raping this poor woman.

[sellitman]

22. You got that right.

Thats why they should step up to the plate and set up this unfortunate woman for life.

[MurrayDelph]

27. One of my mottos in life

When life kicks you in the balls, you may as well take a bow!

[PA Democrat]

9. Wonderful news! Although, I doubt it was "Shank's extraordinary situation"

that prompted their change of heart. More like all the bad publicity was undermining their multi-million dollar ad campaign promoting WalMart as such a great employer who offers its employees great health care benefits.

Way to go Keith Olbermann!

[suffragette]

50. Exactly what I was about to post

If Keith hadn't shined the light on what they were trying to pull, I'm sure they would still be trying to get away with it.

KO rocks!

[classykaren]

60. CNN had over a million hits on its web site regarding this

[Hamlette]

10. good for Keith! he pushed this story Now what should he set his sights on?

Wrongs big and small.

What should KO go after next?

[MagickMuffin]

43. Keith should go after Shank's attorneys.... They took in $282,523

Seems like everyone wanted a piece of the pie. I understand they should receive payment, but almost $300,000 seems just a little excessive:shrug:

Keith should shame them as well, IMHO. Especially after losing a son in a War of Choice, for his country.

Shank, 52, lost much of her memory and ability to communicate or walk in a crash between her minivan and a tractor trailer in May 2000. Her family sued the trucking company and won $700,000. Court records show that after attorney's fees and costs, the remaining $417,477 from the settlement went into a trust to care for Shank.

The fund now has about $270,000, the family said.

Shanks' health insurance was through Wal-Mart, where she worked nights stocking shelves. After the Shanks won their lawsuit, Wal-Mart sued the Shank family to recover medical costs totaling about $470,000.

[liberalhistorian]

66. Excuse me, but I'm in the legal field and I can tell you

that every penny of that was earned. People have no idea just how much WORK goes into even the seemingly simple legal matters. And the Shanks' attorney had been working for them for years, mostly without compensation. But they still have to eat and pay their expenses, too. Most attorneys in these cases put their money upfront and don't collect anything unless they win a judgment. And that upfront money (filing and court fees, witness fees, transcript fees, copies, faxes, etc., etc.),can run into the hundreds, often thousands, of dollars in addition to doing work for often years without being paid. No one would expect any other professional to work for years without being paid and to put up a ton of money upfront. Certainly you don't see most doctors even considering such a thing.

[blondeatlast]

44. Wal-Mart.

:rofl:

[Ian David]

11. This is great, but I'm still not going to shop at Wal-Qaeda.

http://www.walqaeda.com/

[JackintheGreen]

12. But...but

it's company policy, and they can't make an exception for the Shanks because it will encourage other employees to take advantage of the system! :sarcasm:

I don't care if Wal-Mart did finally do the right thing. They are a horrible company and would have pushed this to its gory conclusion had not HUMAN BEINGS stepped in to publicize their villainy. And they will do it again, and again, and again.

"And we would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

[momster]

55. How Many Others

are there whom Wal-Mart has treated the same way?

[Booster]

14. Best news of the day for sure. Guess bad publicity really works.

[Karenina]

34. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts

they saw a blip in their daily bottom line figures.

[Bluzmann57]

15. Three cheers for Olbermann!

And to all who contacted Wal Mart decrying this deplorable act against this woman. Just goes to show what can be accomplished when people work together to beat these evil bastards. Still ain't shopping at that store though. Screw 'em.

[SoFlaJet]

16. Way to go Keith

you da man!

[DainBramaged]

17. FUCK WALMART AND THE HORSE THEY RODE IN ON

Sam Walton is probably helping to build the elevator to Hell for his Devil spawn knowing they are evil.


Hooray for KO and the Shanks, may their lives become peaceful again.


:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

18. K&R!!

:dem:

[SoFlaJet]

19. I just e-mailed him at

[e-mail] telling him what a great job he did.

[sellitman]

21. Now let's see the really do the right thing and

set her up for life.

[annabanana]

48. No.. Let's see them do the REALLY right thing, and drop that damn

clause from their insurance contract for ALL their employees.

[Myrina]

73. or, BOTH!

n/t

[CC]

23. Kind of late to pretend to have

any iota of human emotion but glad they are finally laying off the family for the family's sake. It should of never gone that far in the first place though so Wally world still won't get my money.


:loveya: KO :loveya: for keeping them on the Worst person list and making sure they were on it Sunday night. :yourock:

[Contrary1]

25. "...Shank's extraordinary situation had made the company re-examine its stance."

Uh huh. :eyes:

[Jack Rabbit]

28. !!

:toast:

[SOS]

29. Great job Keith!

But how will the Walton family manage without their 400K?

From the Fortune list of richest Americans, the following are tied for fourth place:

4. Alice L. Walton, 55
Net worth: $18 billion
Source: Inherited

4. Helen R. Walton, 85
Net worth: $18 billion
Source: Inherited

4. Jim C. Walton, 56
Net worth: $18 billion
Source: Inherited

4. John T. Walton, 58
Net worth: $18 billion
Source: Inherited

4. S. Robson Walton, 60
Net worth: $18 billion
Source: Inherited

[TheWraith]

30. I wish I could just keep recommending a thread over, and over, and over. nt

[WolverineDG]

31. Hooray for Keith!

:woohoo: :yourock:

psst, sis: :hi:

dg

[lonestarnot]

32. HOT DIGITY DOG! I like it!

[Subdivisions]

33. Now that's fair. n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

35. Yeah Keith!!!!!!

:applause:

[magellan]

36. Damn well about time!

They waited so long and it required so much pressure to get them to change their minds they won't even reap any good publicity from it, the idiots. But at least this woman will get her money back.

[RevCheesehead]

37. "Behold, the Power of Keith."

:bounce::bounce: :loveya:

[southern_belle]

38. Awesome! Thanks for the update

Babylonsister. :hug:

[depakid]

39. Greed and stupidity go together like cake & ice cream

These idiots passed up a chance at some relatively inexpensive PR -and bought themselves another firestorm instead. More fodder for citizens to keep them out their communities.

[walldude]

40. A big K&R... SWEET!!!!

Took em' long enough.. Olbermann.. what can I say, I'm glad he's not dead to everyone. Aces Keith!

[SeattleGirl]

41. YES!!!!!

Great news, and thanks to KO for not letting go of this story!

[Berry Cool]

42. A great day indeed

A shame that Keith had to shame them into it, along with many other folks.

K&R!

[dsc]

45. good

Now we need to get rid of the law that let them do this in the first place.

[Patsy Stone]

46. Excellent news!

:bounce:

[annabanana]

47. But look what it TOOK!

Daily shaming on national TV for nearly a whole week! What chance do ordinary people have?

[Donkeykick]

52. Makes you wonder if they will...

do a commercial on how they helped the family out. :eyes:

Just like they should do a commercial on Mexican kids bagging for them for only tips. :eyes:

[progressoid]

59. Yep. You can bet they are plundering others even now.

A couple hundred here. Ten thousand there.

[sonias]

49. A good day for the Shank family

I think they deserved a good day. Walmart had to be shamed into it, but at least the Shanks can have that comfort of not facing that claim.

:applause:

Sonia

[LiveLiberally]

51. Fantastic News!

I wondered how long Walmart could stomach winning KO's WP bronze every day.... and frankly, I give them no credit for caving faster than expected.

[KamaAina]

53. YYYYYYYEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!

with apologies to Marv Albert :-)

[ekwhite]

56. Great News!!

I understand he will have Jim Shank on the show tomorrow night.

[unapatriciated]

57. That's Great news

I also want to give a big :thumbsup: to everyone in this thread who are continuing to boycott Wal-mart. I was a little surprised to see DUer's defending them on an earlier thread.

Never shopped there and never will.

Thanks KO.

[rocktivity]

58. Actually, your headline should read (US - - > Olbermann - -> Deborah Shank)

Anyway, CUE THE VONAGE THEME!

:woohoo:
rocknation

[Mad_Dem_X]

61. Terrific news!

"Wal-Mart's top executive for human resources, Pat Curran, wrote that Shank's extraordinary situation had made the company re-examine its stance."

Good - hopefully no one else will have to go through what this family did.

[Summer93]

62. Another instance to continue my boycott of Walmart

If there is a future where corporations can be friendly with me as a have-less I might consider shopping at their stores but, they continue to prove that as a corporation they are on the whole not friendly to the people they employ to create their billionaire status.

[amb123]

63. IN YOUR CORPORATE FACE WAL-MART!

:patriot: :toast:

[B Calm]

64. Predatory Capitalism finally loses one!

[Sheets of Easter]

65. Good. I'm sure this was a PR nightmare for Wal-Mart.

Good for the Shanks!

[RavensChick]

67. A big time K & R!!!!!!!

Now the Shanks can be at peace with this and move on.

As for Walmart, wild horses could'nt drag me into that hellhole!

Keith:
:yourock:

[BrklynLiberal]

68. If it had not been for the publicity, they would have insisted on getting the $ back..

Guess their PR dept convinced them it would make them look like the greedy,slimy, money grubbing scum that they are.

[Swamp Rat]

69. k&r

[Irishonly]

70. Hooray for Keith

Thank God he took the time and cared enough to report while the rest of the MSM fiddled. I hope the Shanks understand what he did for them.

[Rainbow gatherer]

71. China-Mart

Still think shopping there is bad.

[Myrina]

72. YAY for all us little people!

And thanks to KO and others for their advocacy!!!


:applause: :patriot: :applause:

[Disturbed]

74. The folks at CNN took the credit for this & never mentioned.

Keith Olberman's part at all.

[jeff30997]

77. And you're surprised?

The M$Media are the biggest but-kissers on earth.

[kwolf68]

75. Wal-mart is a total shit organization

I do EVERYTHING I can to not shop there and I am Wal-martless for several years now.

If my wife ever gets anything from there I go off...

One related story...Wal-mart put a store in the Shenandoah Valley in Warren County, Virginia. Warren County for the most part is a horrible little hellhole full of theocratic fascists, but the place Walmart wanted to move would have completely EFFED up the skyline view (the area is quite pretty).

the local people fough with Wal-Mart for a long time and Wal-mart was bound and determined to put their store where they wanted. The people didn't quit fighting...I even signed a petition and donated some money to the cause when I was down there.

Finally after a long drawn out fight WalMart "GAVE IN"...they decided to put their store where the protesting people wanted them to put it, moving it off the skyline.

I was happy, but in the statement responding to the decision Wal-Mart's statement was something to the effect that they made the decision to put the store in the new location based on business decisions and IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH the people protesting. ....

translation: We are fucking God and if we put a store somewhere it's because that's what WE DECIDED....had I been Wal-mart I would have put out a press release not saying how 'it was not the peoples decision', but rather we listened to the people and because we want to be a part of this community we have decided to move our store. Fucking Walmart could have gotten tons of free good-will publicity, but in their arrogance chose to go the mighy-joe-young route.

While I have ZERO faith in Warren County Virginia I would LOVE to see that store be the first Wal-mart to close up its doors. People in Germany are able to resist buying from Walmart, why can't we?

[jeff30997]

78. I totally agree with you kwolf68.

I truly HATE that corporation.They killed all the Mom and Pops stores in our small town...

I never, and I truly mean NEVER entered a Wall-Mart store.They are disgusting parasites!