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Thread: Walmart does the Right thing!

  1. #1
    HB Forum Moderator Alex's Avatar
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    Walmart is all Heart!

    Woman knocked unconscious by trampling shoppers
    ( 2003-12-01 09:53) (Agencies)

    A mob of shoppers rushing for a sale on DVD players trampled the first woman in line and knocked her unconscious as they scrambled for the shelves at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

    Patricia VanLester had her eye on a $29 DVD player, but when the siren blared at 6 a.m. Friday announcing the start to the post-Thanksgiving sale, the 41-year-old was knocked to the ground by the frenzy of shoppers behind her.

    Customers wait to enter a Wal-Mart in Cortland, New York, early Friday morning. In Florida, one woman was trampled during the shopping blitz.
    "She got pushed down, and they walked over her like a herd of elephants," said VanLester's sister, Linda Ellzey. "I told them, 'Stop stepping on my sister! She's on the ground!"'

    Ellzey said some shoppers tried to help VanLester, and one employee helped Ellzey reach her sister, but most people just continued their rush for deals.

    "All they cared about was a stupid DVD player," she said Saturday.

    Paramedics called to the store found VanLester unconscious on top of a DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her, said Mark O'Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance.

    She was flown to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where doctors told the family VanLester had a seizure after she was knocked down and would likely remain hospitalized through the weekend, Ellzey said. Hospital officials said Saturday they did not have any information on her condition.

    "She's all black and blue," Ellzey said. "Patty doesn't remember anything. She still can't believe it all happened."

    Ellzey said Wal-Mart officials called later Friday to ask about her sister, and the store apologized and offered to put a DVD player on hold for her.

    Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman Karen Burk said she had never heard of a such a melee during a sale.

    "We are very disappointed this happened," Burk said. "We want her to come back as a shopper."

    End of Story
    --------------------------------------


    Who pays for the Hospital stay?

  2. #2
    HB Forum Moderator Alex's Avatar
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    Now we know how Walmart got it's 1.5 BILLION dollar day after Thanksgiving sale groove going.

    They OFFERED to put a DVD PLAYER on HOLD for the shopper who was injured in the line of shopping duty.

    Who's gonna pay for her medical expenses?

  3. #3
    DeviantD
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    I'm not sure how philsophical a question this is.
    To me it seems more a question of litigious probity,
    of the attributation of blame. The unfortunate
    shopper was surely aware of some of the risks
    involved in gluing herself to the front of such
    a manic mob of people - and if she hadn't been so
    capitalistically corrupt in the first place, she
    wouldn't have even been there. Her greed got the
    better of her?

  4. #4
    HB Forum Moderator Alex's Avatar
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    OK, this is probably a "rating sweeps month" kind of question.

    However, it can actually be a very deep philosophical question. The United States continues to talk about freedom as it relates to the economy, yet medical expenses continue to rise.

    This women probably will be staring at a $15,000 dollar hospital bill. Either she pays it or someone pays it for her. I'm just curious who SHOULD pay for it.

    I don't know if it's fair to say that "she knew the risks". In the U.S. the whole goal is to provide a risk free environment at all times.
    Whether a virtual risk free environment is a valid goal or not (another topic perhaps?), she probably has a lawsuit in her future.

  5. #5
    DeviantD
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    'OK, this is probably a "rating sweeps month" kind of question.'

    What does 'rating sweeps month' mean?

    'However, it can actually be a very deep philosophical question.
    The United States continues to talk about freedom as it relates
    to the economy, yet medical expenses continue to rise.'

    Then we need to clarify which area of moral and/or ethical
    socio-political and/or socio-philosophical spheres that concerns
    us. The - unfairly disproportionate, as you perceive it - rise
    in American medical expenses is a governmental issue more than
    a philosophical one per se. In other words, any amelioration
    is achieved politically and not so much philosophically.

    'This women probably will be staring at a $15,000 dollar hospital
    bill. Either she pays it or someone pays it for her. I'm
    just curious who SHOULD pay for it.'

    The answer is usually dependant on the individual's social
    status and financial capabilites? If it transpires that the
    individual is financially incapable of paying the bill, and
    the State, in turn, equally refuses, then we effectively find
    ourselves facing a reformist issue - which is, of course,
    'a whole different ball game,' as you Americans put it.

    'I don't know if it's fair to say that "she knew the risks".'

    A $29 DVD player? She knew the risks all right.

    'In the U.S. the whole goal is to provide a risk free environment
    at all times.'

    This is logistically impossible to achieve, and naively stupid
    to even attempt. Utopianist claptrap. (Marxist ideology?)

    'Whether a virtual risk free environment is a valid goal or not
    (another topic perhaps?), she probably has a lawsuit in her future.'

    No, for the aforsaid reason. Any counter-lawsuit is just another
    disregardable perpetuation of the boring 'compensation culture'
    epoch we now find ourselves relectantly living in.

    I'm really sorry the poor woman got crumpled - it could have
    been my mother out here - but to camp out (as she undoubtedly did),
    and risk life and limb for the sake of bloody $29 DVD player,
    is preposterous.

    D.

  6. #6
    HB Forum Moderator Alex's Avatar
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    Ratings sweep month refers to the television industry's practice in the United States of picking 3 months out of the year (usually every four months) in which they bombard their own network with sensationalistic programing to get the higher than normal ratings. Those ratings are then used to set the fee structure for commercial rates for their advertisers.

    -------------------------

    Lawsuits don't just reward the alleged victim, they also force the store to take pre-emptive measures in the future.

    When the hordes of shoppers stormed through the door at the beginning of the day, they already were walking through modified rules and changes brought about from previous lawsuits in regards to how the doors can work, which way they must swing, width, type of glass to prevent shattering...etc.

    Sadly, without lawsuits, coporations would drag their feet when it comes to safeguarding their stores.

    I will be really curious what happens in this instance. I gotta believe it will be a settlement.

    If the situation is resolved without a lawsuit, what will Walmart do differently, on their own, the first day after Thanksgiving for next year to prevent a repeat of what happened this year.

  7. #7
    DeviantD
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    'Ratings sweep month refers to the television industry's
    practice in the United States of picking 3 months out of
    the year (usually every four months) in which they bombard
    their own network with sensationalistic programing to get
    the higher than normal ratings. Those ratings are then
    used to set the fee structure for commercial rates for
    their advertisers.'

    If this methodology is as commonly known as it seems, why
    do you think these advertising companies allow themselves
    to be convinced by, what it is, essentially, disingenuous
    figures?

    'When the hordes of shoppers stormed through the door at
    the beginning of the day, they already were walking through
    modified rules and changes brought about from previous
    lawsuits in regards to how the doors can work, which way
    they must swing, width, type of glass to prevent shattering...etc.'

    This is structural ergonomics, but it wasn't ergonomics that
    crushed the shopper, it was other shoppers. People and
    people's emotions. These things are far harder to rectify.

    'Sadly, without lawsuits, coporations would drag their feet
    when it comes to safeguarding their stores.'

    Indeed.

    'I will be really curious what happens in this instance.
    I gotta believe it will be a settlement.'

    The perennial problem, of course, for corporations is what
    sort of litigious precedent is set if the case goes against
    them. Inveterate addicts (cigarettes, food, etc.) are now
    espied taking Marlboro and McDonalds (respectively) to court
    all the time. There isn't really any justification for this,
    but nevertheless, it happens. A socio-cultural shift has
    taken place in which the pedestrian now feels empowered
    enough to feel that they can any body to any court for any
    reason.

    'If the situation is resolved without a lawsuit, what will
    Walmart do differently, on their own, the first day after
    Thanksgiving for next year to prevent a repeat of what
    happened this year.'

    Only Walmart echelons know this, but I'm sure it won't
    hinder their capitalistic plans for next year's sale in
    the slightest. Business is business.

    D.

  8. #8
    Inactive Member drumkid's Avatar
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    "We are very disappointed this happened," Burk said. "We want her to come back as a shopper."

    Typical attitude of big business.

    'I don't know if it's fair to say that "she knew the risks".'

    A $29 DVD player? She knew the risks all right.

    Getting trampled on whilst waiting in a line is not an every day experience or even a common one.
    However ,she now has no excuse given her experience of this.unless this behaviour is quite common in America, in which case, i stand corrected.

    <font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ November 24, 2004 10:45 PM: Message edited by: drumkid ]</font></font>

    <font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 24, 2004 10:58 PM: Message edited by: drumkid ]</font>

  9. #9
    HB Forum Moderator Alex's Avatar
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    Arrow

    The Walmart documentary is out.

    Also, another example of how WalMart affects the local community...

    Lower Prices, Lowering Job Opportunities for the Local Communities...

  10. #10
    HB Forum Moderator Alex's Avatar
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    Arrow

    "Walmart employee, Walmart employee, please report immediately BACK TO WORK, we've had a sudden increase in customers and need you to immediately come in"...thank you for doing the right thing!

    Here is a link to the "Just-In-Time" Walmart plan...

    Just-In-Time On Call Walmart Plan

    The reader comments after the article are also interesting because they seem to cover both sides of the issue. As absurd as the idea is, if it is implemented, I think Walmart MUST pay a downtime fee to any employee that has to leave and come back in the same day, and additionally, some type of mileage fee should be paid as well.

    <font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 14, 2007 06:25 AM: Message edited by: Alex ]</font>

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