JOCELYN D. LARKIN (SBN 110817)
THE IMPACT FUND
125 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
Telephone: (510) 845-3473
Facsimile: (510) 845-3654 / JOSEPH SELLERS
CHRISTINE WEBBER
COHEN, MILSTEIN, HAUSFELD & TOLL
West Tower – Suite 500
1100 New York Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20005-3964
Telephone: (202) 408-4600
Facsimile: (202) 408-4699
IRMA D. HERRERA (SBN 98658)
DEBRA A. SMITH (SBN 147863)
EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES
1663 Mission Street, Suite 250
San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone: (415) 621-0672
Facsimile: (415) 621-6744 / STEPHEN TINKLER
MERIT BENNETT
TINKLER & BENNETT
309 Johnson Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Telephone: (505) 986-0269
Facsimile: (505) 982-6698
SHEILA Y. THOMAS (SBN 161403)
EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES
5260 Proctor Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
Telephone: (510) 339-3739
Facsimile: (510) 339-3723 / DEBRA GARDNER
PUBLIC JUSTICE CENTER
500 East Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone: (410) 625-9409
Facsimile: (410) 625-9423
STEVE STEMERMAN (SBN 067690)
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE (SBN 111781)
DAVIS, COWELL & BOWE
100 Van Ness Avenue, 20th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 626-1880
Facsimile: (415) 626-2860
Attorneys for Plaintiffs / SHAUNA MARSHALL (SBN 90641)
HASTINGS COLLEGE OF THE LAW
200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 565-4685
Facsimile: (415) 565-4854
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
BETTY DUKES, PATRICIA SURGESON, CLEO PAGE, CHRISTINE KWAPNOSKI, DEBORAH GUNTER, KAREN WILLIAMSON AND EDITH ARANA, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,Plaintiff,
vs.
WAL-MART STORES, INC.,
Defendant
/ Case No. C-01-2252 MJJDECLARATION OF RENE HARKINS IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
I, Rene Harkins, declare:
1. I am a 39 year old female living in Old Fort, North Carolina. I worked at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.’s Sam’s Club store in Asheville, North Carolina from June 20, 1998 until June 1, 2002, when I resigned from my job. I have been subjected to gender discrimination by Wal-Mart with regard to promotions. I have also experienced differential treatment from Wal-Mart because of my involvement in this lawsuit.
2. I joined Sam’s Club initially as an Associate Cake Decorator in the Bakery Department at a starting wage of $7.50 per hour. After working as a Cake Decorator for approximately one year, I applied for a position as, and was hired for, a Team Leader position in the Bakery Department in approximately June, 1999.
3. In February or March, 2000, I met with David Prince, the Fresh Merchandise Manager, and told him that I was very interested in becoming the Bakery Manager. Mr. Prince responded that I would have to prove myself to get the position. I also told Larry Miller, the Regional Manager, and Elliot Neilan, the Store Manager, of my interest in the Bakery Manager position. Mr. Miller and Mr. Neilan ignored my requests.
4. After working as a Bakery Team Leader for approximately one year, Sam’s Club transferred the Bakery Manager to another store. Because there was a vacancy in the Bakery Manager position, Sam’s Club assigned me to perform the Bakery Manager’s duties as well as the Bakery Team Leader duties in the summer of 2000. Sam’s Club did not formally promote me into the Bakery Manager position or even give me a merit raise for the extra work that was required of me. I still only made my hourly wage, which at that point in 2000 was approximately $9.00 per hour.
5. I worked two jobs as the Bakery Team Leader and filling in for the Bakery Manager job without any training for approximately six months. Finally, in the early part of 2001, Tangela Griffin, the Merchandise Manager, trained me for the Bakery Manager position for approximately seven months. Ms. Griffin told me that I would officially become the Bakery Manager and join the salaried management team at Sam’s Club. During the seven months that Ms. Griffin trained me for the Bakery Manager position, she repeatedly told me that I was doing a great job and that I would become the Bakery Manager once I had completed the training.
6. To my great surprise, however, in approximately December, 2001 or January, 2002, Sam’s Club decided to promote Randy Peek, a male employee who had been working as a Produce Team Leader, into the Bakery Manager position. Mr. Peek had no experience in the Bakery Department and certainly had no experience in bakery management.
7. David Prince, the Fresh Merchandise Manager, and Larry Miller, the Regional Manager, made the decision to promote Mr. Peek over me to the Bakery Manager’s job. These men never interviewed me for the Bakery Manager’s job, even though they were aware that I was being trained for the position in question and was doing a good job. I consistently received performance reviews and evaluations that were rated four or higher on a one-to-five scale, with five being the highest rating.
8. For about 10 weeks following Mr. Peek’s promotion, I was tasked with the humiliating job of training him into the Bakery Manager’s position – the job I had been told was going to be mine. I feel that I was not given a fair chance to be promoted to the Bakery Manager job and that Mr. Peek received the job simply because he was a man.
9. I have also been subjected to differential treatment by Sam’s Club as a result of my involvement in this lawsuit. In approximately March or April, 2002, I sustained a fracture to my foot that was unrelated to my job, and my doctor placed a walking boot cast on my foot. My doctor gave me a medical release to return to work, but when I showed up for work after receiving medical treatment, Ms. Griffin, the Merchandise Manager, refused to allow me to work until my cast was taken off. Sam’s Club treated my foot injury differently than they treated other people’s similar injuries – including Donna Justice, a female Receiving Manager, who was allowed to work while using crutches – and a similar injury that I previously sustained. I believe that Sam’s Club mis-applied their policies in an effort to further discriminate against me. Moreover, Sam’s Club also completely failed to process my disability paperwork for my 2002 foot injury. In fact, to this day I have not received any disability payments for the time Sam’s Club refused to allow me to work.
10. I resigned from Sam’s Club on June 1, 2002. I had lost hope that I would ever be promoted into a salaried management job at Sam’s Club when I saw the company decide to promote Mr. Peek to the Bakery Manager job around me. Since that time, Sam’s Club made it clear to me that I was not wanted as an employee and used differential treatment to make my work environment unpleasant.
11. Sam’s Club continued to retaliate against me even after I had resigned. Sam’s Club repeatedly failed to provide information to my new employer concerning my dates of employment, which resulted in a delay in the commencement of my work at my new job. It was not until I complained to Kevin James, a Wal-Mart Vice-President, that Sam’s Club provided this information to my new employer.
I have personal knowledge of each and every fact set forth in the Declaration, and if called to testify as a witness in this matter, I could and would competently testify to each of these facts.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and State of North Carolina that the foregoing is true and correct.
This Declaration was signed by me on ______, 2003, at ______, North Carolina.
______
Rene Harkins
1
DECLARATION OF RENE HARKINS IN SUPPORT OF Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION