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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 STEPHANIE ODLE
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 STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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I, Stephanie Odle, declare:
1.
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.
2.
I am thirty-one years of age, female and I was discriminated against by the male
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management of Wal-Mart who wrongfully denied me a promotion to Co-Manager, retaliated against
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me because I complained about gender discrimination and wrongfully discharged me to make
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available a managerial position for a male manager from another store.
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3.
On November 21, 1991, I was hired by Wal-Mart as an hourly associate to work at
the Sam’s Club in Lubbock, Texas.
4.
I transferred to the Dallas, Texas, Sam’s Club in 1992; to the Yuba City, California,
Sam’s Club in February 1993; and to the Vacaville, California, Sam’s Club in June 1993.
5.
When I applied for transfer to the Vacaville store to be closer to my husband who was
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in the U.S. Marines, stationed at Concord, California, I was told by Mr. David Blackwell, the
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Operations Assistant Manager for the new store in Vacaville, that he could not offer me a promotion
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to a full-time Check Out Supervisor (COS) position because I “made too much money.” Even
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though I complained about this discrimination, in order to get the promotion, I was forced to take a
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$.50 per hour cut in my hourly rate. When I later helped out in the Personnel Department at the
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Vacaville store, I learned that two men who transferred when I did from the Yuba City store to the
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Vacaville store to become supervisors like me did not have their pay cut like mine was.
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6.
In late 1993, I became the Cash Office Lead in the Accounting Office in the Vacaville
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store. I was promoted into the Assistant Manager training program in September 1994. There was a
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shortage of managers in Vacaville and nearby stores because Wal-Mart had just acquired a number
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of PACE stores, and many of the PACE managers had left. Openings for these positions were not
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posted, so I went to the Operations Assistant Manager and inquired about the opportunity to become
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a manager. I was referred to Mr. Bob Alderman, Director of Operations. I then met with Mr.
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Alderman to request a promotion, which Mr. Alderman approved.
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DECLARATION OF STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
7.
I relocated to Sacramento, California, to begin my assistant manager training at the
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Roseville, California, Sam’s Club on September 4, 1994. After receiving only six of the 16 weeks of
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training, Mr. Alderman told me that he needed an Assistant Manager in the Receiving Department at
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the store in South Sacramento, California, so I accepted that position.
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8.
The General Manager at the Sacramento store was Mr. Chris Udderman who told
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racial and sexually-oriented jokes at managers’ meetings. When I attempted to get Mr. Udderman to
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approve raises for two women in the Claims Department to make their pay equal to the men working
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in the Receiving Department, Mr. Udderman said, “Those girls don’t need any more money; they
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make enough as it is.”
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9.
I reported Mr. Udderman’s discriminatory conduct to Director of Operations
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Alderman, but apparently no action was taken. I was not interviewed about Mr. Udderman’s
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conduct, and I was never told of any outcome. His inappropriate comments continued. Because
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nothing effective was done about Mr. Udderman’s behavior, I requested a transfer to the Riverside,
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California, store and moved there in April 1995.
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10.
After about a year at the Riverside store, I was asked by the District Director of
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Operations, Mr. Phil Goodwin, to do a special project relating to clubs with high inventory loss or
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“shrinkage.” In 1996, while I was at the Riverside store, I learned that another male Assistant
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Manager in my store, Mr. Mario Arenales, was making over $10,000.00 more than me (his W-2 tax
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form was given to me by an hourly associate who discovered it left in the Receiving Office), yet he
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had less experience with Wal-Mart than me. I complained about this gender pay disparity to Mr.
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Goodwin.
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11.
In response to my complaint, Mr. Goodwin said, “Mario supports his wife and his
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two kids.” I told Mr. Goodwin, “I’m having a baby; I need to support my daughter.” Mr. Goodwin
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then humiliated me by requiring me to provide him with my personal household budget so he could
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decide whether or not I deserved to receive pay equal to Mr. Arenales. I am unaware of a similar
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request ever being made of a male Assistant Manager. Nevertheless, I prepared my household
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DECLARATION OF STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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budget and gave it to Mr. Goodwin and received a raise of only approximately $40.00 per week .
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This raise, of course, did not bring my salary anywhere near to parity with Mr. Arenales’ salary.
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12.
In March 1997, I transferred to one of the Sam’s Clubs in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the
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Assistant Manager for the Merchandise Department. Within a few days after arriving in Las Vegas,
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I was called back to the Riverside store for a meeting with Mr. Carlos Doubleday, Director of
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Operations; Mr. Carl Brown, Regional Loss Prevention Manager; and Ms. Chris Schilling, an
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Assistant Manager at the Riverside store, who was present as a “witness.” During this meeting, I
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was wrongfully accused of making incorrect audit entries “understating shrinkage”, even though
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these entries had been approved at the time by Mr. Brown and by Mr. Goodwin. Other male General
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Managers in the region had made similar entries. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Doubleday asked
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Mr. Brown and Ms. Schilling to leave the room, and then, Mr. Doubleday told me that he believed
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that I made the entries because Mr. Brown had told me to, adding, “I’m going to do everything I can
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to protect you.” This later proved to be untrue.
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In April 1997, I was aggressively questioned by my General Manager in Las Vegas,
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Mr. Ben Dolan, and by the District Director of Operations, Mr. Hank Geerling, about the same audit
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entries. I was then unfairly given a written “Decision Making Day”, the penultimate discipline short
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of termination, for audit entries that I had been instructed to make by my male supervisors in
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California. To my knowledge, neither Mr. Brown nor any of the male General Managers who had
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made similar audit entries were ever disciplined. I feel that the men used me as a scapegoat to cover
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for their mistakes.
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After I received this unfair and discriminatory written discipline, I used the Open
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Door and met with Mr. David Simpson, the Regional Vice President, who did not listen to what I
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had to say and did nothing but belittle me and treat me in a very condescending manner. Mr.
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Simpson did nothing whatsoever to remove the unfair discipline from my personnel file. In fact, Mr.
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Simpson told me, “You no longer have a position in Las Vegas; there is no position for you in
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Southern California. You do have a position with the company; however, it has to be where there is
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an opening. We will no longer create a position for you . . . Phil Goodwin has a position, and if I
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DECLARATION OF STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
were you, I would take that position.” Mr. Goodwin was still the Director of Operations for the
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Sacramento area, and I had no choice but to accept that position. Before I reported to the
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Sacramento store in the fall of 1998, I had to take a several-month medical leave of absence because
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I was emotionally decimated from the demeaning and discriminatory treatment I had endured from
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my male supervisors.
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15.
In the fall of 1999, I was transferred to the Sherman, Texas, store. Ms. Stephanie
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Selinger was the General Manager. After a few months, Mr. Bill Smithson became the General
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Manager of the store, and I became Assistant Manager of Merchandise.
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16.
Before Mr. Smithson had arrived at the store, Ms. Selinger and I had submitted a
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written proposal to Mr. Larry Alderson, Director of Operations, demonstrating that closing the tire
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shop earlier, at 7:00 p.m. instead of 8:30 p.m., would save Wal-Mart millions of dollars. Mr.
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Alderson rejected our proposal. However, after Mr. Smithson took over as General Manager, Mr.
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Smithson made the identical suggestion to Mr. Alderson who, this time, approved it. When I asked
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Mr. Smithson how he had convinced Mr. Alderson to change his mind when he had only recently
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rejected the suggestion when made by Ms. Selinger and myself, Mr. Smithson said, “I guess it’s a
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man thing.” When I asked, “What does that mean?”, he replied, “Take it for what it’s worth.” I
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immediately knew from his remarks and the way he said them to me that Mr. Smithson had no
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respect for women. I also knew that Mr. Alderson would only implement a cost-saving suggestion
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if it was made by a man, not a woman.
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17.
On March 13, 1999, I was on vacation and stopped into the store to cash a check. Mr.
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Smithson came up to me and said, “If I’d known you were back in town, I would have had you work
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today.” I told him he could not make me work because I was still on vacation. He then said, “I’m
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the General Manger, I can do whatever I want to do.” I never saw him treat male managers with
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such disrespect.
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On May 6, 1999, I was helping out at the front end and refunded a tax overcharge to a
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regular business customer in the amount of $250.00. I did not ask him to show proof of purchase
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since he was required to sign a tax refund log and because Mr. Smithson had previously made a
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DECLARATION OF STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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large refund to a regular customer based solely on the customer’s word. After the customer left, I
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realized that I did not have the refund slip and had used the wrong code for the transaction, so I
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immediately informed the accounting office of my mistake and told them how to correct it.
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19.
Approximately one week later, I was accosted by Mr. Chuck Roberts, a Wal-Mart
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loss prevention investigator, who insultingly implied that I had stolen the $250.00. I was placed on
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suspension and told to “go home” while he contacted the customer to verify the transaction and that
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the customer had actually received the refund money. Mr. Roberts told me that it would only take
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him a “couple of hours” to contact the customer. I waited at home for at least five days before being
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cleared of suspicion of theft.
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Even though Mr. Roberts finally verified that the customer did receive his $250.00
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refund, I was not even allowed to set foot back into the store. On May 20, 1999, Mr. Smithson and
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Mr. Roberts met me at a Wal-Mart store across the street from the Sam’s Club, and gave me a
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written “Decision Making Day” discipline because I had “circumvented refund procedures.” They
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told me that I could never re-enter the Sherman store and that I had to relocate to a Sam’s Club in
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either Lubbock or Amarillo, Texas. I chose Lubbock.
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21.
In early April 1999, before I was falsely accused of mishandling the tax refund, I had
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interviewed on the telephone with Mr. Shawn Baldwin, Director of Operations, for a Co-Manager
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position in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mr. Baldwin said I was a strong candidate for the position and told me
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he would get back to me. Some time afterward, Mr. Alderson came into the store and told me that
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he heard I was going to get the job and that Mr. Baldwin should be contacting me to tell me. Mr.
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Smithson later told me that Mr. Alderson had indicated to him that I was going to get the position
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and asked me if I had heard anything yet. On May 19, 1999, after I had been suspended by Mr.
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Smithson, I called Mr. Baldwin who told me that a male General Manager from Florida was stepping
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down from his position “for personal reasons”and assuming the Co-Manager position in Tulsa which
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I should have gotten. I believe that Mr. Smithson sabotaged my promotion opportunity by unfairly
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suspending me and disciplining me even though Wal-Mart had verified that the refund I had made
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DECLARATION OF STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
had actually occurred. Mr. Smithson simply did not want me to get the Co-Manager job in Tulsa
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because I am a woman.
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22.
I reported to the Lubbock store in June 1999. The General Manager was Mr. Duke
Parrish.
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On October 7, 1999, Mr. Parrish invited the three male Assistant Managers, Keith
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Musick, Jerry Ratliff and Ron Torres, to take a “skills assessment test” to assess their ability to
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perform the duties of General Manager. I was excluded from this opportunity to demonstrate my
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ability to perform as a General Manager, a position I had been seeking for a long time.. I
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approached Mr. Parrish and said, “How come the three guys get to take it [the skills assessment test]
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and I don’t? Why can’t one of the guys not take it and I can?” Mr. Parrish said there were only
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three tests which had been designated for only these three managers. I believe I was never allowed
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an opportunity to take this test because I am a woman.
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24.
On October 15, 1999, I discovered that Mr. Parrish failed to deposit approximately
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$3,000.00 in cash he had received for the sale of a company forklift and had instructed that the cash
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instead be placed in the office safe which was in violation of Wal-Mart’s policy. I immediately
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directed the accounting office associate to deposit the money and made a report of Mr. Parrish’s
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policy violation to Ron Torres, the Assistant Manager in charge of the store in Mr. Parrish’s absence.
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25.
On October 16, the very next day, the store implemented a new “elite membership”
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upgrade program, and I was responsible for training the store’s employees regarding the new
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procedure. I gathered several employees together to demonstrate the new system. Since there was
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no one to use as an example to demonstrate how to upgrade their membership to an elite
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membership, we searched the computer for an employee for whom it would cost very little to
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upgrade their membership, based upon a proration of their existing membership value. Our research
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revealed that an Assistant Manager, Keith Musick, would only have to spend $13.74 to upgrade his
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existing membership to an elite membership. Using him as an example for demonstration purposes,
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I showed the employees how to accomplish the upgrade process. I then instructed an associate in the
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accounting office how to reverse the transaction if, when we spoke with Keith, he did not want the
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DECLARATION OF STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
upgrade. I also reported what had happened to Mr. Torres, the acting General Manager at the time.
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I later informed Mr. Musick what we had done, and he said he would let me know later that day
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whether or not he wanted the upgraded membership. Instead of hearing back from Mr. Musick later
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that day, Mr. Parrish called me into his office because apparently Mr. Musick had complained about
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me using his membership account as a training example, and Mr. Parrish said he would have to
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consult with Mr. Alderson about “what action to take.” Mr. Torres was also present and denied that
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I had informed him about the situation when it occurred. The next day, Mr. Parrish told me, “I
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talked with Larry [Alderson]; we have decided that we are going to terminate you for violation of
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company policy.”
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26.
After being terminated by Mr. Alderson and Mr. Parrish, I learned from Ms. Suzanne
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Austin, an hourly associate at the Sherman store, that a male manager in a Phoenix, Arizona, Sam’s
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Club, Wayne Backus, had already departed the Phoenix store on October 15, 1999, the day before
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my supposed “violation of company policy” on October 16, to move to Lubbock to replace me. I
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then recalled a telephone conversation between Mr. Parrish and Mr. Backus I had overheard on
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October 3, wherein Mr. Parrish told Mr. Backus, “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Larry [Alderson]; he’ll
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make room.”
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27.
Because my termination was so obviously discriminatory and unfair, I then used the
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Open Door and called Mr. Greg Spragg, the Regional Vice President. Mr. Spragg told me that he
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had been told that I rang up Mr. Musick’s membership because I “felt pressure to get an elite
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membership,” which I told Mr. Spragg was totally false. I then confronted Mr. Spragg with the fact
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that Mr. Backus was already on his way to the Lubbock Store to take my job. Mr. Spragg admitted
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that he had authorized Mr. Backus’ transfer and that the Lubbock store would then have more
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managers than were required for a store of its size. Mr. Spragg then said that he was going to send a
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person from loss prevention to contact me. I never heard from loss prevention, but I did receive a
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call from Mr. Steve Rodriguez, the Regional Personnel Manager. I told him about the harmless
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training exercise that had occurred. On October 29, 1999, I received a call from Mr. Spragg who
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said he was going to uphold my termination.
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DECLARATION OF STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
1
28.
I believe I was terminated because I am a woman, because I complained to Mr.
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Parrish about gender discrimination regarding his refusal to allow me to take the skills assessment
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test, because I challenged Mr. Parrish’s authority when I reported his failure to deposit the cash sale
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funds in accordance with Wal-Mart policy, and because Wal-Mart had already made the decision to
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replace me with a male manager from Arizona and therefore needed to fabricate a reason to
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terminate me.
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29.
Since I knew that I had been discriminated against because of my gender, I filed a
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Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC through my attorney on October 25, 1999. See Exhibit A
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attached hereto and incorporated herein. I filed an EEOC Charge of Discrimination form, dated
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January 4, 1999 [sic 2000]. See Exhibit B attached hereto and incorporated herein. I filed an
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Amended Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC, dated April 3, 2000. See Exhibit C attached
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hereto and incorporated herein.
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30.
If I could be assured that I could work at Wal-Mart free from gender discrimination
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and retaliation, with equal opportunity for promotion and pay, I would consider re-employment with
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Wal-Mart as a manager.
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I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and the State of Oklahoma,
that the foregoing is true and correct.
This Declaration was signed by me on April __, 2003, at Norman, Oklahoma.
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______________________________
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Stephanie Odle
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DECLARATION OF STEPHANIE ODLE IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ