The One Kind-Hearted Thing Walmart Is Doing For Its Workers
This article is more than 2 years old
Walmart doesn’t have the best reputation related to how it treats its retail employees. However, this time the company is doing the right thing by its workers. The retail titan announced that following the tragic shooting that occurred at a store in Chesapeake, Virginia the location would remain closed for an investigation, but that it would continue to pay all employees regardless of the amount of time the store remains closed.
In addition to continuing to pay the employees that were unharmed following the shooting that left six dead and two injured, Walmart asserted that it would take care of all funeral expenses for the families of the deceased. The retailer also relayed that it would pay for the medical expenses of the two victims that remain hospitalized. Walmart CEO John Furner expressed in a note that the company is there for both the surviving employees and the families of the deceased.
Following the shooting, more information has surfaced about the assailant, Andre Bing. Employees are starting to come forward and remark on interactions involving harassment that they had with Bing, who worked as shift lead at the store. The Wall Street Journal reported that at least one surviving employee has moved to file a formal lawsuit against the retail giant.
Donya Prioleau, the employee filing the suit, told the Wall Street Journal that she had filled out an incident report over two months earlier pertaining to an encounter she had with Bing while at work. Prioleau said that Bing made her exceedingly uncomfortable after speaking inappropriately to her about the way she looked.
With the lawsuit, Prioleau is seeking $50 million in compensation from Walmart. Specific details within the lawsuit have not yet been publicly revealed. However, what is known is that in addition to the complaint Prioleau filed in September against Bing, she was also present in the store the night that the tragic shooting occurred.
The investigation at the Walmart store in Chesapeake, Virginia remains ongoing. Alongside Prioleau’s accounts, other employees have come forward to speak about Bing and his behavior at work. Many have stated that he was not easy to work with and that he frequently bullied and harassed other workers. Bing’s work history is not exactly clean either.
Bing worked at the store since 2010, but reports show that he was repeatedly disciplined for his conduct. It is unclear why he was never terminated for his behavior. And it is also unclear why he was promoted to a managerial role despite having a less-than-stellar history with the company.
It remains to be seen what information may continue to arise from the ongoing Walmart shooting investigation. Regardless, it is certain that the surviving victims and their families have a long road of healing in front of them. And while it is too late for Walmart to rectify its inaction in not appropriately dealing with Bing prior to the shooting, it is comforting to know that the retailer is intent on doing the right thing for the victims and their families going forward.
