Woman with Down Syndrome awarded $125 MN after Walmart fired her due to her condition

Wisconsin jury has awarded $125 million to Marlo Spaeth, who is living with Downe Syndrom and was fired by Walmart over her ‘excessive absenteeism' on a change of schedule. As per the Chicago Tribune report, Spaeth started working with Walmart as a sales executive in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1999 and her daily tasks included folding towels, cleaning aisled, processing returns and greeting customers. Even though over the next 15 years she reportedly received several pay raises and positive performance reviews, things took a drastic turn for the woman when in November 2014 her hours were suddenly shifted.

In November 2014, Walmart instituted a computerised scheduling system that, according to the company, was based on customer traffic and ensured that enough people were working when the store had the most people. However, what it meant for Spaeth who worked from noon to 4 PM, was that she was expected to work from 1 PM to 5:30 PM. As per the report, the lawyers claimed that the sudden change in her schedule posed major hardships for her because. Lawyers reportedly said that she had Down Syndrome and thrives on routine. 

Reportedly, Spaeth told a manager time and again in 2014 that she wanted her old schedule back. Spaeth’s sister and guardian, Amy Jo Stevenson said that her sister told the Walmart manager that, “she’s afraid she’s going to miss the bus.” The media publication cited court records to quote Stevenson saying, “She’s afraid she’s going to miss dinner. It’s upsetting to her. She gets too hot. She says she feels sick, and she can’t accommodate it, so we need it switched back for her.” Despite her repeatedly raising concerns, the company refused to switch Spaeth back to the previous schedule even as the store is open 24 hours a day and had over 300 employees.

Eventually, when Spaeth was unable to accommodate, Walmart took disciplinary action twice against the woman for absenteeism and tardiness. On July 10, 2015, she was fired for ‘excessive absenteeism.’ as per the report, a Walmart training coordinator took Spaeth’s vest and walked her out of the store where she had worked for more than a decade. The report also stated that the training coordinator later testified that both she and Spaeth had been crying and that the latter did not understand what was happening. 

Jury finds Walmart violated the law

Even though her family tried to convince the company, Walmart refused to rehire Spaeth. On Thursday, a jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin found that Walmart had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on an employee’s disability, and awarded Spaeth $125 million in punitive damages and $150,000 in compensatory damages.

Reportedly, the jury had deliberated for at least three hours after the trial which lasted for four days and found that Walmart had failed to provide Spaeth with a reasonable accommodation even though she required one because she has Down syndrome. The jury reportedly also found that any accommodation to Spaeth would not have posed any hardship to the company and that the company did not rehire her due to her different ability. 

IMAGE: AP