Brain-damaged woman at center of Wal-Mart suit

[Prrkitty]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/walmart.insurance.battle/index.html

What it boils down to is that Wal-Mart is "self-insured". And if an employee receives any settlement from an accident, not involving their work or Wal-Mart, the company "can" and "will" recoup any and all monies they've paid for the medical coverage of said employee.

The money the woman in the article received was for her "future" medical expenses and "lost" wages that she won't be able to make now since the accident.

Just another way a big company can and will screw over their employee. *sigh*

[Starkist]

Maybe people should read the fine print in their contracts.

[War Lord]

I don't see the big deal here.
Perhaps they should have sued the trucking company for more if they felt they needed it.
It's probably pretty standard that if you make any money as the result of an accident you'd be able to pay your medical expenses. Insurance companies, and companies in general are in business to make money.

If I'm in an accident, typically I'd sue for medical expenses and a little bit more, which is what it sounds like happened here.

[Beldaran]

Maybe people should read the fine print in their contracts.

I doubt a person applying to work at Wal-Mart has the resources to be discriminating in their choices of employment and benefits. Wal-Mart is notorious for being extremely difficult to get workers benefits from, and this behavior is just disgusting. Pretty much anyone over the age of 20 applying to Wal-Mart "just needs the money" and doesn't have the clout to turn down a job because the benefits package is confusing.

Wal-Mart is perfectly within their rights to do this... but why do it? I'm perfectly in my rights to fart in people's faces, but I don't do it. Spread a little positive energy and help this family recover from a really terrible tragedy.

If I owned a company that made $90 billion in gross revenue per year, I would pay her bills and send her an extra hundred grand with a really nice card and some flowers. I wouldn't do so under obligation, but come on. Spread some good energy. It's just petty and sick to see them do this.

[Starkist]

If I owned a company that made $90 billion in gross revenue per year, I would pay her bills and send her an extra hundred grand with a really nice card and some flowers. I wouldn't do so under obligation, but come on. Spread some good energy. It's just petty and sick to see them do this.

Would you do that for every single employee who gets hurt? That's a full time business itself. If you read the article, you see that Walmart would have paid all the medical bills without reimbursement as long as the employee did not receive damages in a lawsuit.

[Archibaldo]

Well Law and Justice don't always coincide. But in reality, with a contract like that, it is Wal-Mart's obligation to read out the fine print when it's as severe as that.

[Starkist]

I should note that I definitely sympathize with the woman and her family. If I had the power to pay their bills, I can't see myself turning them down.

I am not a corporation though. Walmart has more employees than any other corporation in the nation. To cater to each employee individually would be a logistical nightmare. They created a system of benefits with certain terms and conditions. Any other company can find itself in the same situation with its own employees; Walmart is no different here. It is the responsibility of the employee to know their rights in relation to their employer.

[Breaker]

They should have sued for more. They can't have Wal-Mart pay all their medical expenses AND keep the settlement, which is what they're trying to do. They're lucky they're not 470,000 in debt. I was working for almost a year for UnitedHealth Group as an insurance adjuster before I moved.. I had to deny large medical claims that would come in with letters detailing all kinds of personal problems, trauma, medical histories, etc. There was nothing I could do about it. Company policy doesn't have any room for sympathy, as it would set a bad precedent.

[AlphaDawg]

I'm with Breaker, they should have sued for more. Maybe in light of these developments they can get more somehow.

Maybe it's just the cynic in me, but I get the feeling we wouldn't be hearing much about this if any company other than Wal*Mart was involved.

[Breaker]

In a surprising twist, Wal-Mart is allowing them to keep the money and not worry about repaying it. Unfortunate that it took a national firestorm for them to start feelilng some sympathy.. They said they would modify their employee's healthplan to allow more discretion in the future.