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BRAD SELIGMAN (SBN 083838)
JOCELYN D. LARKIN (SBN 110817)
THE IMPACT FUND
125 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
Telephone:
(510) 845-3473
Facsimile:
(510) 845-3654
JOSEPH SELLERS
CHRISTINE WEBBER
COHEN, MILSTEIN, HAUSFELD & TOLL
West Tower – Suite 500
1100 New York Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20005-3964
Telephone:
(202) 408-4600
Facsimile:
(202) 408-4699
IRMA D. HERRERA (SBN 98658)
DEBRA A. SMITH (SBN 147863)
EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES
1663 Mission Street, Suite 250
San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone:
(415) 621-0672
Facsimile:
(415) 621-6744
STEPHEN TINKLER
MERIT BENNETT
TINKLER & BENNETT
309 Johnson Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Telephone:
(505) 986-0269
Facsimile:
(505) 982-6698
SHEILA Y. THOMAS (SBN 161403)
EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES
5260 Proctor Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
Telephone:
(510) 339-3739
Facsimile:
(510) 339-3723
DEBRA GARDNER
PUBLIC JUSTICE CENTER
500 East Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone:
(410) 625-9409
Facsimile:
(410) 625-9423
STEVE STEMERMAN (SBN 067690)
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE (SBN 111781)
DAVIS, COWELL & BOWE
100 Van Ness Avenue, 20th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone:
(415) 626-1880
Facsimile:
(415) 626-2860
SHAUNA MARSHALL (SBN 90641)
HASTINGS COLLEGE OF THE LAW
200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone:
(415) 565-4685
Facsimile:
(415) 565-4854
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Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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BETTY DUKES, PATRICIA SURGESON,
CLEO PAGE, CHRISTINE KWAPNOSKI,
DEBORAH GUNTER, KAREN WILLIAMSON
AND EDITH ARANA, on behalf of themselves
and all others similarly situated,
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Plaintiff,
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
DECLARATION OF DAWNIA SELF
IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’
MOTION FOR CLASS
CERTIFICATION
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vs.
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WAL-MART STORES, INC.,
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Defendant
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DECLARATION OF DAWNIA SELF IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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I, Dawnia Self, declare:
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1.
I am a 33 year old female living in Madill, Oklahoma. I worked at Wal-Mart’s Fort
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Collins, Colorado store for approximately two years, starting on April 22, 1998. I then transferred to
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the Wal-Mart store in Durant, Oklahoma for approximately nine months. After working at the
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Durant, Oklahoma store, I transferred once again to Wal-Mart’s store in Madill, Oklahoma for seven
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months before moving to Sanger, Texas and working at a Wal-Mart distribution center until
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October, 2002.
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2.
During my employment at Wal-Mart, I encountered discrimination based upon my
gender with regard to my compensation and work assignments.
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3.
When I worked as a Softlines Sales Floor Associate at the Fort Collins, Colorado
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store, I made requests for merit raises on numerous occasions to Ed Holt, the Store Manager, David
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Headrick, my immediate supervisor, and Jack Gunn, another Manager. My requests were always
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denied.
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4.
I know that other male employees at the Fort Collins store in 1998 and 1999 received
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merit raises and/or made an hourly wage that was higher than mine even though their experience and
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jobs at Wal-Mart were comparable to mine. Included among these men was John Brailsford, who
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worked in the Electronics Department. Mr. Brailsford told me what his hourly wage was.
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5.
I also know that other males who had experience comparable with mine made a
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higher wage than me for doing similar work when I worked at the Durant, Oklahoma store in the
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second half of 2000 and the first half of 2001. I am aware, for example, that John Branch was hired
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into a Day Receiving job at a very high hourly rate that exceeded my hourly wages.
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6.
During my employment at the Durant, Oklahoma store, I had to ask Mike Snell, the
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Assistant Manager, and Buddy Sherryl, the District Manager, repeatedly for a differential pay
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increase when I switched jobs from Cashier to Night Receiving. My husband, who also worked for
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Wal-Mart at the same store, received a differential pay increase when he switched jobs to Night
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Receiving, even though he did not have to ask for it. Wal-Mart eventually approved my differential
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DECLARATION OF DAWNIA SELF IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
pay request, but I should not have had to even ask for it, as it was Wal-Mart policy that Night
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Receiving positions received differential pay increases.
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7.
After working in the Night Receiving position, I moved into a Department Manager
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position in the Shoe Department. Mr. Snell, the Assistant Manager, gave the order that I would not
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be able to keep the pay differential I had in the previous Night Receiving position, even though my
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husband was able to automatically, without asking, keep his pay differential when he moved into
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Department Manager and Support Manager positions from Night Receiving. I spoke at length to
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both Mr. Snell and Brenda Logan, the District Manager, about my desire to keep the differential.
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My request was finally approved, but I was never compensated for the pay differential I was entitled
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to receive in the Shoe Department Manager position for the first few weeks of the job.
8.
I transferred to the Madill, Oklahoma store in the fall of 2001 to be closer to where
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my ailing father lived. Males at the Madill store who had experience comparable with mine made a
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higher wage than me for doing similar work. One such person was Larry Burns, who had an
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Unloader position.
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9.
During my time at the Madill store, I had discussions with Tim Owen, the Store
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Manager, regarding my desire for merit raises, more hours per week, to be placed on full-time status
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and to be placed in the Management Training Program. Mr. Owen only laughed at me in response to
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my requests. I also met with Bill White, District Manager, to discuss being placed in the
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Management Training Program, but he ignored my request. In the “Associates Comments” section
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of my Annual Performance Appraisal in February, 2002, I asked to be promoted to a management
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position. See Annual Performance Appraisal dated 2/11/02 and identified as WMHO 1042861, a
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true and correct copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 1. No one in management, however,
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responded to my requests.
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10.
When I moved to the Sanger, Texas store in approximately May, 2002, Wal-Mart
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assigned me to a Break Pack position. During my orientation at the Sanger, Texas store, out of the
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18 people in orientation, there were only three women present. Greg Carpenter, a Maintenance
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Manager, attended one of my initial orientation sessions, and pointed around the room at each
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DECLARATION OF DAWNIA SELF IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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employee making comments about the positions to which he thought each employee would be
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assigned. When he pointed at me and the two other women, he said that he “knew where we were
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going,” implying that the only job we were capable of doing was Break Pack. The following day,
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Jose Perez, orientation leader, was discussing company policies and stated that anyone who
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stereotyped people at Wal-Mart would be fired. After Mr. Perez said this, I told Mr. Perez about the
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stereotype Mr. Carpenter had used during our orientation. Mr. Perez told me that he would handle
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the situation. Mr. Carpenter was neither disciplined nor fired, but shortly thereafter received a
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promotion.
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11.
When my father died in August, 2002, I took a leave of absence. My husband
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automatically received bereavement pay without requesting it. I, however, had to request
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bereavement pay for my own father’s death. At first, Wal-Mart refused to give me the bereavement
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pay, but only after I insisted, they finally agreed to give it to me.
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I have personal knowledge of each and every fact set forth in the Declaration, and if called to
testify as a witness in this matter, I could and would competently testify to each of these facts.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and State of Oklahoma that
the foregoing is true and correct.
This Declaration was signed by me on ______________________, 2003, at
_____________________, Oklahoma.
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______________________________
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Dawnia Self
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DECLARATION OF DAWNIA SELF IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ