From
In The Arena. Links in the
original.
It's rare that one finds a big company that is so consistently accused of wrongdoing. Sure, there will be isolated incidents in big companies - errors of omission or commission by poorly trained or overly aggressive managers. It's a fact of life for any far-flung business empire.
But Wal-Mart and Sam's Club seem to go well beyond "isolated incidents". Indeed, if one were suspicious, one might think Wal-Mart is bent on deliberately violating long-standing labor laws, workplace safety rules, and other statutes. And they might well be right.
Consider these instances:
Wal-Mart stores in states as far afield as Arkansas, New Hampshire and Connecticut have recently settled a Labor Department inquiry as to whether the stores used child labor to operate such dangerous equipment as chain saws, paper balers, and fork-lift trucks. In Oregon, the state's wage and hour administrator has been asked to look into child labor practices there, too. And stores in Maine paid over $200,000 to that state to settle more than 1,400 violations there. Could it be that consistent violations of child labor laws are just seen as a "cost of doing business" by Wal-Mart? A practice that yields far higher benefit than the paltry fines leveled on them when they are "caught"?
Wal-Mart recently closed a store in Canada after the workers there voted in a union to represent them in collective bargaining and negotiations went nowhere. The union is suing Wal-Mart for bad faith negotiations. But one has to ask: since this was the very first Wal-Mart store in all of North America to vote for a union, is it possible that Wal-Mart's decision to close it was intended as a shot across the bow to Wal-Mart workers elsewhere who might be considering union representation? Did the workers in Quebec simply serve to set an example to workers everywhere that they had better not exercise a right they are supposedly guaranteed by federal and international law?
Wal-Mart employed cleaning companies as contractors in over 21 states that were found to employ undocumented workers. According to press reports at the time, Wal-Mart executives knew of the illegal activity. A firm in New Jersey has filed suit under the Racketeer Influenced, Corrupt Organization ("RICO") statute to collect money the firm alleges is owed to the undocumented workers.
Wal-Mart has wage and hour lawsuits pending against it in a variety of states alleging, among other things, that hourly workers were denied overtime pay; or, to work "off the clock" without pay. According to the plaintiff's counsel in one of these suits, "Wal-Mart provides perverse incentives for managers to lower overhead costs, the largest component of which is employee payroll, by offering financial compensation and bonuses."
Wal-Mart is the most sued company in America, according to USA Today. Yet the newspaper says Wal-Mart rarely settles, preferring, instead, to litigate claims even where the cost of litigation may exceed the cost of the suit. But that shouldn't be surprising, in view of a report by Wal-Mart adversary "Wal-Mart Watch" that federal judges in at least three states have fined Wal-Mart "for destroying evidence, withholding documents, and other violations in cases where Wal-Mart shoppers were either injured or a crime victim at a Wal-Mart store." US District Court Judge Sam Kent (Galveston, TX) was even quoted as saying, "nefarious conduct is all too common in lawsuits in which Wal-Mart is a party... and now, having had its hand called, it whines." He had fined the company $1,000 for "repeated and protracted concealment of relevant documents and witnesses"
Wal-Mart is accused by at least one source of violating state and federal firearms and alcohol licensure requirements with respect to the sales of alcohol and firearms by having the licensed entity employ workers who are not licensed to make such sales. The accuser says that the violations may extend nationally. And Wal-Mart in California is reported to have sold guns to 23 people who were prohibited from owning them, transferring licenses before criminal background checks were completed, and failing to verify purchaser's identities.
Wal-Mart was found to be in contempt of court for selling counterfeit Tommy Hilfiggergoods, in direct violation of a previous court order.
So, all this goes to the question: Is Wal-Mart a criminal enterprise?
Well, I don't know the answer to that. But, if I was a state's attorney general, or the Director of the FBI, I think I might well be asking. And if I was an investor, a fund manager, or a pension fund trustee holding Wal-Mart stock, I would definitely be asking.