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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,
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
DECLARATION OF SUSAN HITCH IN
SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION
FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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WAL-MART STORES, INC.,
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Defendant
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DECLARATION OF SUSAN HITCH IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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I, Susan Hitch, declare:
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I am a 39 year old female living in Livermore, Colorado. I worked for Wal-Mart
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from January 25, 1999 until I resigned from employment on December 29, 2000 out of frustration
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with the lack of promotional opportunities.
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2.
During my employment at Wal-Mart, I encountered discrimination based upon my
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gender with regard to promotions and training opportunities. In addition, I experienced retaliation
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for voicing my complaints of discrimination to Wal-Mart managers.
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3.
I started working at Wal-Mart’s Longmont, Colorado, store as a Cashier. I also
worked as a Layaway Clerk, Customer Service Manager (hourly), Stocker, Safety Team Leader, risk
management, fund raising, Furniture Department Manager and Support Manager.
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I spoke to Kent McCoy, the Store Manager, on numerous occasions and expressed an
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interest in being promoted into a salaried management position. I specifically remember one such
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meeting with Mr. McCoy in approximately September, 1999, when I was a Safety Team Leader.
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Mr. McCoy falsely told me that I had to be a Department Manager before being promoted into a
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management job at Wal-Mart. I also spoke to Jim Mohan, the District Manager, about my desire to
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work in management at Wal-Mart. Mr. Mohan replied that Wal-Mart would train me for an
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Assistant Manager position. Mr. Mohan led me to believe that the training would commence within
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two to four weeks. When I was not assigned to the Management Training Program after a couple of
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weeks, I again inquired of Mr. Mohan and Mr. McCoy why there was a delay in my training.
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Neither Mr. Mohan nor Mr. McCoy explained why training had not started. For weeks thereafter, I
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continued to ask these men when my Assistant Manager training would begin, but they only ignored
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my further inquiries.
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5.
In March, 2000, I was promoted into an hourly Furniture Department Manager
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position. During my time in this position, department sales increased by 72% and I was invited to
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attend a meeting in Arkansas as the representative for the Longmont, Colorado, store.
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6.
I attended this meeting in Arkansas in the spring or early summer of 2000. I noticed
that most of the managers attending the meeting were young males. I saw very few female district
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DECLARATION OF SUSAN HITCH IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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or regional managers at this meeting. Coincidentally, during this meeting, nuns who owned stock in
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Wal-Mart accused Wal-Mart of discrimination against women.
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7.
After I attended the meeting in Arkansas, I spoke to Kent McCoy, the Store Manager,
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and Rick Caputa, the Co-Manager of the store, and again told them that I wanted to be promoted into
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a salaried management position. I also told them that I felt Wal-Mart discriminated against women.
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Mr. McCoy told me that he thought I would one day make it into Wal-Mart management.
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In late June, 2000, after repeatedly asking Mr. McCoy to be promoted, I became a
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Support Manager, which is an hourly, not salaried, position. After becoming a Support Manager,
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however, Wal-Mart excluded me from daily store meetings and Wal-Mart management personnel
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continued to give me the cold shoulder. When I again discussed my desire to be promoted into a
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salaried Assistant Manager position with Mr. McCoy, he told me that I would have to relocate. I
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responded immediately that I would be willing to relocate, and Mr. McCoy said he would “look into
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it.” Nothing ever came of my request.
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9.
I recall discussing my desire to become a salaried manager with Mr. Caputa in his
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office in the fall of 2000, when I was a Support Manager. During this meeting, Mr. Caputa told me
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that women were too emotional to be good managers. I did not use Wal-Mart’s 1-800 complaint
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number because I observed that when other employees used this number to complain, the Home
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Office would call the District Manager, who would call the Store Manager, who would then retaliate
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against the complaining employee. I feared that if I used this complaint method, or utilized the Open
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Door Policy, I would be subject to retaliation.
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10.
I eventually became very discouraged that I would ever be promoted to a salaried
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management position at Wal-Mart. I had wanted to pursue a career with Wal-Mart, and had worked
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long and hard hours to try to succeed in achieving my goal of reaching the salaried management
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level. I had many times told my store management, as well as the District and Regional Managers,
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of my goal of reaching management and my desire to be placed into the Management Training
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Program.
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DECLARATION OF SUSAN HITCH IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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11.
In my time at Wal-Mart, I only saw two job vacancies posted. Mr. McCoy would
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usually hire whomever he wanted. I observed that management only approached men to inquire
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whether they were interested in becoming a member of management, while women were never
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approached. I felt that, because I was a woman, I could never advance to an Assistant Manager
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position.
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12.
I excelled at every job I held at Wal-Mart and poured my heart and soul into my work
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there. I always received the highest marks (“Exceeds Expectations”) on my Performance
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Appraisals.
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13.
I observed males with less qualifications than me promoted by Wal-Mart into
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salaried Assistant Manager positions. In February, 2000, Jim Mohan, the District Manager,
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promoted Jorge Cobos, a male Stocker from Wal-Mart’s Lafayette, Colorado store directly into the
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Assistant Manager training program at the Longmont, Colorado store after less than seven total
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months of employment at Wal-Mart. Mr. Cobos completed the training program and became an
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Assistant Manager at the Longmont store.
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14.
I was crushed and extremely disappointed when I saw Wal-Mart promote Mr. Cobos
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to an Assistant Manager job, despite the fact that I was more qualified than him and had repeatedly
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made it known that I wanted to become an Assistant Manager. In December, 2000, I resigned from
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Wal-Mart because I was so fed-up with the discriminatory atmosphere and lack of promotional
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opportunities for me.
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15.
After I resigned from Wal-Mart, the store promoted Dustin Turner, a twenty year-old
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part-time male cashier, into an Assistant Manager position. When I worked as a Stocker in 1999,
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Mr. Turner had been promoted on a fast track into a Support Manager position despite being
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disciplined by Wal-Mart at least three times for having romantic affairs with co-workers. I had
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previously complained to Mr. Caputa about Mr. Turner’s unfair promotion, but was told that Mr.
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Turner was “different.”
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16.
Wal-Mart had been grooming Mr. Turner for a salaried management position. It was
clear to me that, because I was a woman, there was no room in Wal-Mart’s management for me.
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DECLARATION OF SUSAN HITCH IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
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The fact that Wal-Mart promoted Mr. Turner to an Assistant Manager position did not surprise me,
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as I assumed this would be the outcome of Wal-Mart’s special treatment of him.
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17.
If given the opportunity, I would like to return to Wal-Mart if and when the company
reforms its policies and practices to ensure a discrimination-free workplace.
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 Colorado that
the foregoing is true and correct.
This Declaration was signed by me on ______________________, 2003, at
_______________________, Colorado.
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______________________________
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Susan Hitch
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DECLARATION OF SUSAN HITCH IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ