Keith Olbermann Continues Feud Against Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart Responds

Last Wednesday, Keith Olbermann introduced the story of Debbie Shank, a 52-year old former Wal-Mart employee and mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who suffered serious brain damage after getting hit by a truck and was subsequently sued by Wal-Mart to recover $470,000 in medical expenses (Shank had won a substantial settlement from the trucking company and, after legal fees, took home $417,000). Olbermann, in the clip seen below, declared Wal-Mart his "Worst Person in the World" and has subsequently named Wal-Mart to his "Worst Persons" list every night since.

Women's Wear Daily/Memo Pad's Stephanie D. Smith reports today that Wal-Mart's corporate communications director, Daphne Moore, has responded with a statement:

"This is a very sad case and we understand that people will naturally have an emotional and sympathetic reaction. While the Shank case involves a tragic situation, the reality is that the health plan is required to protect its assets so that it can pay the future claims of other associates and their family members. These plans are funded by associate premiums and company contributions. Any money recovered is returned to the health plan, not to the business. This is done out of fairness to everyone who contributes to and benefits from the plan. The Supreme Court recently declined to hear an appeal of the case, which concludes all litigation. While Wal-Mart's benefit plan was entitled to more than the amount that remained in the Shank trust, the plan only recovered the funds remaining in that trust," which according to reports amounted to about $277,000.

Comments

[hoopesaz]

Just read on MSNBC that they have reversed and will not seek repayment. Good news. Glad to wee Walmart do the right thing.

[FirstBlowupDollLaura]

People who think the criticism and boycotts against a multibillion dollar corporation don't mean a thing...

Think again.

The boycotting and speaking out are making the big bully giant backpedal now and then.

[[e-mail]]

Great news! Way to go, Keith! Please keep speaking truth to power. We need you.

[Charity Froggenhall]

Oh, come on. They made $11 billion last year. They can't afford to reimburse the plan for a lousy half a mill?

Carry on, Keith.

[Star2000dancer]

Tops is well known for not paying in lawsuits as well. Most doctors wouldn'[t take me after I got hit by those shopping carts because they said "Tops is known not to pay". And sure enough, they not only didn't pay, but sued me for for legal charges & put a judgement on me as well while I had to fight for disability & couldn't get correct thrapy to heal. We need to pull these sleazy type corporations out of their spider holes.

[quetzalfan]

This, in my opinion, is chump change compared to Wa-Mart life insurance policies. Do you realize there are multiple class action lawsuits against Wal-Mart for purchasing life insurance policies on its workers - with the beneficiary being Wal-Mart? Yes, it's true and easily can be found by searching "life insurance Wal-Mart.

Seems they know there less well-off employees won't live so long, and they'll rake in the cash upon their deaths. Only problem is that in Texas, you have to notify the individual when you buy life insurance with you as beneficiary. They were doing this in all states, not just Texas, but it was illegal in Texas.

I don't know if they are continuing with this practice, but when I originally heard this news, I made the decision to shop elsewhere.

[Jeffin90019]

Wal-Mart is truly an evil entity. They help the Chinese communist regime by exporting all of its manufacturing to this oppressive nation and then sending it back to the US. Americans are losing jobs so that Wal-Mart can sell cheap foreign made goods. As they world's largest retailer they can do whatever the hell they like. If you want to make a difference in this country, start by boycotting Wal-Mart and encourage all of your friends, relatives, and neighbors to do so too.

[ProFromOre]

In the beginning I was moderately opposed to WalMart because of the damage I was seeing them do to my home town of 10,000.

Growing up there in the 50's & 60's was an experience of knowing the small store owners and their families - a lot of them had kids my age. Going back home after WalMart opened, I saw an rapid increase in the demise of those familiar businesses, some of which were now run by my friends instead of their parents. It was discouraging.

About 6 years ago I read an article while in a waiting room that changed my position on WalMart. It exposed them as the amoral & anti-American corporation they are. The article was based on a study done calculating the average amount of dollars WalMart contributed to a state, (direct AND indirect thru taxes, etc) vs the average amount of state assistance given to WalMart employees, (food stamps, ADC, etc).

The numbers were $400,000+ to employees of WalMart (average per state) in state assistance vs S40,000+ from WalMart (average per state).

The next time you hear someone from the Failure Party, er, the Repub Party start railing on about the dangers of socialization of our health care system, just remember those numbers.

[gwhizz]

You should check out the numbers of people who WORK for the gov't--specifically school districts--who depend on public assistance.

[ErnestineBass]

Oh, whizz off, troll.

[Dave01]

Lets not forget it wasn't all the Republican's doing.....­Hillary sat on the board of Walmart sitting idly by while her friends did all the "dirty work" like her surrogates are doing in this current campaign.

[abeattie]

"Lets not forget it *was* all the Republican's doing.....­Hillary sat on the board of Walmart sitting idly by while her friends did all the "dirty work" like her surrogates are doing in this current campaign."

There.. fixed that for you.

[ErniePyle]

I heard senator Obama answer the question - What is the most important thing you learned from your mother? His response was "empathy".

[Star2000dancer]

I went thru this. I was misdiagnosed, given drugs, had horrible side effects, had to apply for disability, ended up in ER rooms &then an ambulance. I finally found out it was heartburn turned into a duodendum ulcer by all the drugs & misdiagnosis' they gave me. I got better, walked into a Tops, bent over to look in my purse, & a kid ran in out of a storm with 15 shopping carts & hit me in the rear. 2 days later I could barely walk.

I took them to court, I lost because of the original misdiagnosises by the 1st doctor. I was crippled for 5 years. Then they put a judgement on me for $1200 that ruined my credit, & I end up having to go on welfare while I had to reapply for disability for 3 years. My life is ruined, but Tops lives on.

[Star2000dancer]

My point is, everyone who is getting injured gets beat up. I also got injured at work in Valley Forge Plaza, was out for 2 weeks, so they fired me. I feel so bad about this poor lady. God Bless You Sweetie. But, do stories on this problem, & you'll find alot of frivolous lawsuits aren't exactly frivolous.

[BOfever]

You friggin liberal hippies can chill out now.

Wal-Mart Drops $400,000 Reimbursement Claim Against Injured Former Worker
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=104141.69780.116283

[ccarmona]

Since when is doing the right moral thing a lib...oh wait, I forgot, right-wingers have no morals.

[wolfgangmo]

Buuuuuuuuuuurn! BOFever should check his BVD's for soot marks.

Bwahahahahahahaha. No morals. Bwahahahahahahaha. Snort.

Whew.

[susie2195]

This has nothing to do with being a friggin liberal hippie. It has everything to do with being a friggin liberal human. I understand suing to recoup your health care cost, but each case should be judged accordingly. There should never have been any problem with letting this go. Not only her brain damage, but everyday she asks about her son Jeremy who was killed in Iraq in 2006 and her husband has to give her the same answer and then she has to start the grieving process all over again.

[Justtellthetruth]

Perhaps they might also reimburse the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the family spent of the trust fighting off Walmarts legal piracy in the first place.

[ProFromOre]

I'd much rather be a "friggin' Liberal hippie" that cared about the earth & fellow man than a conservative member of the Failure Party. I defy you to cite one substantive policy originated by the Failure Party since Reagan took office that has not failed. Just one.

When I hear the h-word used as invective it hurts & demeans me as much the n-word must hurt blacks.

Growing up in a mill and logging town in the '60's with some of the most bigoted people you can imagine. The reason they weren't racist is there were no blacks & Hispanics in the area. That only left hippies or anyone they decided might be a hippie.

At 17 I was publicly beaten by adults on the main street of town with no consequences because I "needed a hair cut", I was spared the hair cut only because 3 or 4 Vietnam Vet's I knew interceded.

I saw my constitutional rights and others repeatedly violated by the local police and county sheriffs -harassment, illegal searches, excessive use of force and more.

I am an average white guy that can relate to what people of color have experienced in our country AND what they still experience to this day.

But unlike people of color, I have an advantage: I can cut my hair and shave my beard but retain the scars and memories. Then bigots like you didn't know....

Be afraid, be very afraid, sir, you are surrounded by us...

[WESLEYA17]

BOfever, that is what is wrong when jerks like you have no morality to care for others.

[Grulg]

Remember folks----this is why you wanna shop at KMART or TARGET or whatever else floats yer boat(s) instead of this. Fuck Walmart. Go KEITH.

[abeattie]

Oh man -- I hate that myth.

Big Box stores are evil by degree -- Target and KMART are not excepted from that. Buy local. If you have no choice, Target is better than wal-fart, but... not good.

[WLA]

Entirely true.

[lawmichigander]

So let me get this straight:
*Wal-Mart log known for promoting a policy of its working being on Medicaid and making it impossible to join its health plan.
*Long known for gender and race discrimination.
*Long known for being a prick
*Corp Director Clinton endorsed policy of buying goods in China
*Obviously Wal-Mart wants to keep expenses down on its health plan.

[Ping]

I believe that this woman was on the job at Walmart when this accident occurred. That's why Walmart's actions in this case are morally reprehensible.

This type of incident underscores the need for federal regulations that require large corporations to purchase health insurance for their employees. Walmart should not be allowed to be "self insured" They are this country's largest employer and they are not responsible enough to be allowed operate without regulations.

[MNmommy]

If she was *on the job* it would be a worker's comp issue. Clearly, reading through all the coverage - it was not.

[speakeasy]

SUBROGATION CLAUSE
Provision in property and liability insurance policies whereby the insurance company acquires certain rights upon paying a claim of loss under the policy. These rights include the right to (1) take legal action on behalf of the insured party to recover the amount of loss from the party who caused it, and/or (2) to receive full or proportionate amount of benefits (such as disability compensation) paid to the insured under a statutory plan or scheme. The objective of this clause is to prevent the insured party from profiting from an insurance policy.

Read the above and come up with your own conclusions why WalMart HAD to sue to get their money back. To me it states they have the right to sue, but it is not absolute. Also, it states that the objective is to prevent the insured party from profiting from an insurance. Profiting in this case includes being confined to a bed with brain damage. This case comes down to a choice to fight or let it go based upon extenuating circumstances.

On the other side (i.e. WalMarts), it would make sense to sue in cases where the insured benefitted from a lawsuit and, in the end, was not permanently injured and able to go back to work or retire from the settlement.

This was a purely judgement case which transcended good sense, morals, christian pity and any type of positive public relations they could have gained by not enforcing their right to sue.

[dhfsfc]

Thanks! Good answer to all the Wal-Mart trolls on this site!

[rikoriki]

You are right in that in insured plans with a subrogation clause, the insurer has the RIGHT to sue for recovery, but there is no legal obligation to do so. It is an administrative rule. Since the WalMart plan was self-insured, there is even less of a legal requirement to sue for recovery, since there is no insurance company involved. It's just that in self-funded plans the loss comes from the employer's bottom line. In insured cases the loss is to the insurance company's bottom line. In short, there was no external requirement for WalMart to sue. In either case, there is obviously a financial interest to sue for recovery by the affected party. It is ultimately a business decision, but if tempered with humane factors, foregoing recovery could redound to the company in terms of goodwill, which I think they finally did see, thanks to Olbermann.

[Stayalert]

That is why many corps SELF RULE via their own insurance offerings.
Daily, weekly, monthly long after renewing in October your insurance selection, the corp oops the "Ins co" can change how or if they cover something DURING the year.
So, what you thought was covered in OCTOBER will not be covered in May.

Corporations suck the big one.

[Justtellthetruth]

If Walmart or any insurance company wanted their money back from third party who caused damage to a person they covered, they could go after the third party themselves.

But instead, they do nothing, because THAT fight would be too long and expensive. instead, they wait for the hapless victim to sue in order to try to get enough money to help pay for the costs they will absorb for the rest of their lives, not to mention to help cover whatever portion of the health care costs that they may still owe themselves, and then they reign down legal terror on the hapless victim only after THEY take on all legal expenses, time and risk, getting all or most of their money back while spending minimum time and resources (in comparison to fighting another insurance company of corporation).

In essence, they get the victim to pay for their legal fight with the 3rd party and then steal back all of the money they were supposed to PAY IN THE FIRST PLACE, even if it is absolutely the case that damages paid have NOTHING to do with health care costs.

[MaciasJ]

The Good News: Walmart decides to leave the woman alone.
http://www.walmartstores.com/8165.aspxx]
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The Bad News: April Fools! We are taking every last dime!!! MUAHAHAHA
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--Walmart

[markkraft]

So, basically Walmart is saying that instead of sueing for more than this woman is worth -- a woman who needs 24/7 care -- they only took every last cent she had?!

And while they don't deny that they were the one doing the sueing, at least all the money goes to lower the cost that Walmart pays in providing its employees substandard health insurance.­.. and if it cost more to provide employees benefits that didn't potentially leave them crippled AND bankrupt, they'd have to pass that cost on to their employees?!

And of course, Walmart doesn't allow unions, which would make sure that employees at least got good healthcare benefits.

Ok. Got it.

[timothe]

In the "not quite Walter Cronkite" part of the news....fr­om tvbythenumbers.com

"Let the smack talking begin: NBC ran a special one hour Countdown with Keith Olbermann and it pulled Quarterlife style numbers (3.37 million) and did even worse in the demo with a 0.5/2. I’d blame that on the basketball overrun except that a rerun of King of the Hill on Fox did about three times as well as KO in the demo. Even a rerun of America’s Next Top Model on the CW had a better 18-49 result than Olbermann. We know from our regular coverage that almost all of Olbermann’s (and O’Reilly’s too) viewers are over the age of 55 on cable, and it would seem NBC was doing their own little Katie Couric experiment to see if it could capture the youth using Keith Olbermann. The verdict is in: nope."

[WLA]

Why do the O'really dittoheads think that we give a rat about ratings? They jibber-jabber on about ratings like it means anything to anyone. Do you think you're talking to a board full of network executives here or something?

[glesslib]

I have read a couple of posts on here from Walmart stockholders, and I would like to respond to them.

If you really want to see the value of your stock continue to rise, write them a note encouraging them to look to their public relations image. In each and every way, Walmart seems to want to be seen as the world's top retailer, and the world' crappiest company to work for. Unpaid overtime, sexual discrimination in promotions, screwing their suppliers until they are forced out of business, offering lousy benefits..­...you name it, they do it. They do it because they can, which really makes for bad PR, bad morale and bad business. You stockholders could pressure the company to become a more positive one.

[marypoppins53]

I will never shop at Walmart again. The other day I shopped at Target for the first time. It was a lot cleaner and nicer. Even if it costs me more money, there has to a limit to how much a corporatiion has to do to make a buck. There is no excuse for this kind of selfishness.