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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
SHEILA Y. THOMAS (SBN 161403)
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
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
DEBRA GARDNER
PUBLIC JUSTICE CENTER
500 East Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone:
(410) 625-9409
Facsimile:
(410) 625-9423
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SHAUNA MARSHALL (SBN 90641)
HASTINGS COLLEGE OF THE LAW
200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone:
(415) 565-4685
Facsimile:
(415) 626-2860
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Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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 VIVIAN CALIMEE IN
SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION
FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
vs.
WAL-MART STORES, INC.,
Defendant
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DECLARATION OF VIVIAN CALIMEE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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I, VIVIAN CALIMEE, declare that:
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1.
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I make this statement on the basis of my personal knowledge and, if called as a
witness, could and would testify competently to the facts herein. While employed by Sam’s Club, I
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have also used the name Vivian Bowie.
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2.
I was hired to work for a Sam’s Club in Joliet, Illinois in 1988 as a Sales
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Representative at $7.00 an hour. In 1990, in order to become an assistant manager, I was required
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by General Manager Louis Johnson and my Director of Operations [name unknown] to relocate to a
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Sam’s Club in Madison, Wisconsin. Since 1990, in order to maintain my position as an assistant
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manager, my General Managers and/or Directors of Operations have required me to relocate to
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several Sam’s Clubs, including those in Streamwood, Illinois, Naperville, Illinois, Matteson, Illinois
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and Joliet, Illinois. I understood that I did not have a choice but to transfer to wherever management
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required.
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3.
My evaluation ratings have always been “met expectations” or “exceeds
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expectations.”
4.
Since I started at Sam’s Club, I was interested in advancing my career into
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management. As early as 1991, I began expressing an interest in management to my supervisor. In
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my 1991 evaluation, I wrote that “I would love the opportunity to become Regional Marketing
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Director.” Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of my Management Performance
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Appraisal and Plan of Action signed on August 2, 1991.
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5.
The following year, I wrote, “My goal is to become a Gen. Mgr. within a year…”
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Attached hereto as Exhibit B is a true and correct copy of my Management Performance Appraisal
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and Plan of Action dated December 4, 1992.
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Even though I was not promoted as I had hoped in 1992, I continued to believe that,
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with hard work and perseverance, I would reach my career goal of becoming a general manager. In
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DECLARATION OF VIVIAN CALIMEE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
2
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
my 1993 evaluation, I again wrote that my goal was to “[b]ecome a General Manager within a year.”
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Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of my Management Performance Appraisal
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and Plan of Action dated July 28, 1993.
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7.
Beginning in 1995, I regularly spoke with Director of Operations Brian Collins
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during my evaluations about my desire to move up in management. In my 1995 evaluation, I again
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wrote that my goal was “[t]o be promoted to Gen. Mgr. this year or begin[ning] of 1996.” Attached
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hereto as Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of my Assistant Coach Performance Appraisal and
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Commitment to Success dated June 6, 1995. I also had many informal meetings with Mr. Collins
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asking him for advice about what I could do to advance in my career. He once told me to learn
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operations and keep up with the merchandise. I followed his advice to the letter assuming that these
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extra efforts would finally bring me a promotion. Again, I was disappointed.
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8.
In 1995, I spoke with Regional Marketing Manager Gina Schieck during my
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evaluations and in various informal conversations about my interest in advancing in my Sam’s Club
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management career. I also expressed concern to Ms. Schieck that I felt I was being blocked from
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further advancement. I told her I was not sure why I had not been promoted above an assistant
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manager position, despite having an excellent record and consistently expressing my interest over
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several years. She reassured me that she would assist me but gave me no specific advice or
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information about how I would be able to advance. I am not aware of any actions that she took to
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assist me after this conversation.
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9.
By 1996, I had been very vocal with several members of management about my
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desire to move up in management at Sam’s Club. In a meeting with both General Manager Jeff
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Kulesa and Director of Operations Mr. Collins, I expressed concern over why I had not yet moved
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up in management, despite having been an assistant manager for six years and having an excellent
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record. I expressed frustration that, had I been promoted when I should have been, I would have
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DECLARATION OF VIVIAN CALIMEE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
3
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
been making more money and would have been much more advanced in my career. Shortly after
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this meeting, I received my first and only coaching for what Mr. Kulesa called a “lack of follow-up”
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and “lack of urgency.” I later heard from a male Assistant Manager [name unknown] that he had
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overheard a conversation between Mr. Kulesa and Mr. Collins about me and specifically about my
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repeated requests to move up in management. This assistant manager told me that, in this exchange,
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Mr. Collins suggested to Mr. Kulesa that I receive a write-up to “cool [me] down.”
10.
In 1998, while I was working as an assistant manager in the Naperville, Illinois Sam’s
Club, the General Manager Gilda Amoroso-Eboli quit and I was told to assume her responsibilities
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for several months. The store also had no co-manager and I assumed these responsibilities as well. I
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spoke with Director of Operations Collins when he visited the store about my interest in the open co-
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manager position. Despite having been an assistant manager for eight years and having successfully
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fulfilled my duties as acting co-manager and general manager, a male, Ron Suggs, was brought in
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from another store to fill the co-manager position. He was a good friend of Mr. Collins.
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11.
In 1999, Trip Gannon replaced Brian Collins as the Director of Operations. I spoke
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with Mr. Gannon about my interest in being promoted, including my goal of running my own store
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as a General Manager. Mr. Gannon told me that if I wanted to be promoted, I would have to prove
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myself to him. I felt this was unfair because I had spent the previous nine years proving myself in
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my position as an Assistant Manager and I had an excellent record.
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12.
By 2000, I had been an Assistant Manager for 10 years. Despite repeatedly
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expressing an interest in moving into a general manager position since 1992, I had not yet been
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promoted. In my 2000 evaluation I again wrote, “I look forward to becoming a General Manager in
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the near future.” Attached hereto as Exhibit E is a true and correct copy of my Sam’s Club
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Performance Planning and Review for Business Manager dated March 10, 2000. I continued to
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regularly speak with Mr. Gannon about my interest in becoming a general manager. I told him that I
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DECLARATION OF VIVIAN CALIMEE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
4
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
felt I was being blocked from advancing in my career and that I did not feel listened to or supported.
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Mr. Gannon promised me he would look into my concerns but he never got back to me.
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13.
Feeling that my own supervisors were indifferent to my concerns, I decided to speak
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with the Director of Operations of a different region, Bob Miller. I set up a meeting with him but he
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failed to show up, later claiming that he had forgotten about it. I then scheduled a second meeting
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with him. When we finally met, I told him about my interest in moving up in management and
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running my own Sam’s Club as a General Manager. He told me that he liked my attitude and spirit
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but he did not commit to helping me, only stating that he needed more time to get to know my skills.
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I also asked whether there was anything I could do to improve my chances for a promotion. Mr.
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Miller told me that, with my character and ambition, I would become a General Manager “soon.” It
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was frustrating to me that those to whom I had expressed an interest in advancing in my
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management career continued to be promoted and replaced so that I was left having to prove myself
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over and over to each new group of supervisors.
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14.
Later in 2000, I learned that the General Manager position of the Joliet, Illinois Sam’s
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Club was open. I spoke with Director of Operations Collins about my interest in the position but he
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told me it was not my “time” yet. He told me, “timing is everything.” I did not understand what he
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meant by that, especially since I had been an Assistant Manager already for 10 years. I finally asked
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him what was it about me he did not like. I told him I had done everything he asked me to do,
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including implementing programs, learning about operations, etc. In desperation, I asked, “What
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more could I do?” Mr. Collins was vague and unresponsive. This was extremely discouraging to
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me, especially when I found out that a less qualified male, Rodney Crockett, got the General
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Manager position. Less than six months later, Mr. Crockett left but, before I even knew the position
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was open, another male, Duane Ebach, got the position. The position was never posted and I did not
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have an opportunity to express my interest. I complained to the new Director of Operations, Larry
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DECLARATION OF VIVIAN CALIMEE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
5
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
[last name unknown], who told me there was nothing he could do about it because it had been
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decided before he came. I contemplated complaining to a higher level of management but I
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continued to be concerned about retaliation and did not want to risk it.
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15.
During my time as an assistant manager, I trained males who were hired after I was
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and who were promoted to co-manager and general manager positions while I was being told it was
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not “my time” yet. They included Dave Tanner, the General Manager of the Joliet, Illinois Sam’s
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Club, whom I trained while we were in Matteson, Illinois, and Billy Herod, the General Manager of
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a Sam’s Club in Detroit, Michigan, whom I trained in 1989 in Joliet, Illinois.
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16.
In 2000, I injured my back while carrying boxes at the Joliet, Illinois Sam’s Club. I
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have had to take several leaves of absence and, as of February 2002, I have been unable to work due
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to this injury. In May 2002, my doctor released me for light duty, but I was told that Sam’s Club
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would not take me back until I was fully healed. I am currently not employed.
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I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and of the State of
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California, that the foregoing is true and correct. I signed this on _____________, 2003 in
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____________________________________
Vivian Calimee, Declarant
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DECLARATION OF VIVIAN CALIMEE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ