:: rawblogXport ::

:: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 ::

Court slams Walmart's use of 'dead peasant' insurance By Mark Gruenberg
NEW ORLEANS — One of Wal-Mart's long list of worker abuses--"dead peasants" insurance where it takes out life insurance policies on its low-level workers and collects the cash when they die--got a kick in the head in federal court.

That's because the estate of one dead worker, Douglas Sims, sued for damages, saying Wal-Mart robbed his heirs of money that was rightfully theirs. Lower federal courts agreed and, on Jan. 5, so did the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Workers assail Wal-Mart's night lock-in policy By Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
The reason for Rodriguez's delayed trip to the hospital was a little-known Wal-Mart policy: the lock-in. For more than 15 years, Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, has locked in overnight employees at some of its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. It is a policy that many employees say has created disconcerting situations, like when a worker in Indiana suffered a heart attack, when hurricanes hit in Florida and when workers' wives have gone into labor.

posted 7:16 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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