SAM'S CLUB LITIGATION INDICATES A PREDATORY CORPORATE CULTURE

Our first article, requesting that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigate the repetitive, unlawful and very possibly criminal behavior of corrupt Sam’s Club management, was just the tip of the iceberg. Any competent, ethical compliance officer, or legal counsel, would have done their due diligence and recommended to the executive leadership of their corporation, the immediate dismissal of any middle management staff whose policies have caused serious damage to victims, who as the result have repeatedly filed multiple lawsuits against the company. 

 

The million-dollar question, from investors and shareholders alike, is: Why hasn't Sam’s Club terminated the employment of Brenda Caldera, a District/Division manager for one of the club’s largest divisions in the State of California ?  

 

Just a sample of a few obviously preventable lawsuits, as detailed below in Ms. Caldera’s district, demonstrate how incompetent and corrupt her leadership is, which is costing shareholders millions of dollars, and which they are completely in the dark about. 

 

California: 

(1)  On 11/15/2021 CHARLES WILLIS filed a Personal Injury action {Charles Willis vs. Sam's Club, Inc. et al } Just one more Personal Injury lawsuit against SAM'S CLUB, This case was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Spring Street Courthouse, located in Los Angeles, California. The case is currently pending. 

  

(2) Capstone Law APC, filed a representative action, under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, on behalf of current and former non-exempt, hourly-paid employees who worked at a Sam's Club store location in California, and on behalf of the State of California. The lawsuit, entitled Stockman v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., et al. is currently pending in the Placer County Superior Court, Case No. S-CV-0041531. The lawsuit alleges the following violations against Sam's Club: 

• not paying all overtime wages; 
• failing to calculate the regular rate of pay properly, for purposes of paying overtime; 
• not paying at least minimum wages for all hours worked (relating to hours worked off-the-clock); 
• not providing employees with timely, uninterrupted meal and/or rest breaks; 
• not paying employees one hour of pay for each missed meal or rest break; 
• not providing employees proper wage statements (pay stubs); 
• failing to maintain accurate payroll records; 
• not paying wages timely during employment and upon termination; 
• failing to pay the time spent for and the costs of mandatory pre-employment physical examinations and/or drug testing; 
• failing to pay reporting time pay; 
• failing to pay split-shift premiums; 
• failing to provide employees with suitable seating; and 
• failing to reimburse work-related business expenses. 
  We believe that these are violations of California’s Labor Code, and we also believe that these violations occurred on a systematic basis to Sam's Club employees. 
   

(3) SAM'S CLUB SETTLES ETHNIC HARASSMENT SUIT FOR $440K 

Sam's Club, owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc, has settled a class action brought against it over allegations of ethnic harassment. The suit was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on grounds that several Mexican employees had allegedly suffered racial slurs.

Sam's Club has agreed to pay $440K to settle the suit, which involved one associate employed in the Fresno, CA store, and who was accused of harassment, and subsequently fired. Nine employees at Sam's Club's Fresno location filed the suit, one of whom is married to a Mexican national. 

 

(4) On March 16, 2020, Marie Taylor, together with some of her colleagues, filed a lawsuit against their California Sam’s Club Retail Warehouse stating that they allegedly failed to pay their employees for the work they had done. This includes the employees’ “off-the-clock” work, due to the security bag searches conducted after their shifts ended. She filed the case in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles. Miss Taylor was employed in Sam’s Club in El Monte, California, as one of their cashiers. Her employment lasted from July 2, 2018, until her termination on November 7, 2019.  

 

(5)  Brown vs. Wallmart, Inc. 

This matter was heard in the US District Court of The Northern District of California. Former California cashiers accused Walmart of failing to provide them with seating as they worked. During the Court’s proceedings, Walmart failed to challenge the plaintiffs’ accusations for seating violations. They also made groundless arguments, based on the cashier’s duties, that had been earlier denied by the District Court. After listening to both parties, the Court ordered Walmart to pay compensation of $65 million in damages, which were  incurred by approximately 100,000 former and current cashiers in California. 

(6) On 04/05/2021 Matsumoto filed a Personal Injury {Matsumoto vs. Sam's Club, Inc.)  Still another personal Injury lawsuit against Sams Club Inc. This case was filed in San Diego County Superior Court, Central Courthouse, located in San Diego, California. The Judge assigned to this case is Carolyn Caietti. 

 

The forgoing are just a sampling of all the lawsuits created by unprofessional, criminally minded managers in Brenda Caldera's district in California, who obviously should never have been appointed to positions of supervision, let alone be retained after problems were exposed through employee litigation.

As this series of articles continues, you will read first-hand accounts, from personal knowledge, of honest associates, and some supervisors, all having between sixteen and thirty years’ experience working at the various clubs. Our next article will profile the names of some of Ms. Caldera’s most corrupt, incompetent and sometime racist managers, who should have never been in charge of the company's hard-working employees, or make major financial decisions that affect shareholders. The pattern of corruption and middle management misconduct is not limited to just California,  and we shall be covering other states in future articles. 

 Stay tuned.