This is the first in an ongoing series explaining why I would comb through the newspaper circulars, clip grocery coupons, and turn my basement into a food pantry rather than patronize my local Walmart.
While I'm sure Walmart isn't the only American corporation employing paranoid sycophants to manage their investment, the level of competence they utilize seems excruciatingly low compared to other retailers.
And while Walmart does indeed hire people with physical challenges, one wonders if below market wages doesn't have something to do with it.
Take the case of Joseph Casias, a Walmart employee with sinus cancer and a brain tumor who was treated for a sprained knee last year. Walmart requires all injured employees to take a drug test when being treated for a work related injury, but Joseph was permitted to use medical marijuana legally by the state of Michigan to help manage the chronic, constant pain he endured.
Walmart, however, fired Joseph upon learning of his "drug use" claiming concern for the safety of its customers and "associates". I guess stocking them shelves is every bit as complicated and dangerous as brain surgery, flying an airplane or driving a school bus. Seems like shelf-stockers ought to be paid extra considering all the responsibility keeping customers safe and all.
Joseph was awarded Associate of the Year by Walmart in 2008. And Walmart was certainly aware of his medical condition.
So what did they suppose he took for his pain? Even over the counter antihistamines caution about machinery use and driving while using the drug. How about Rush Limbaugh's drug of choice OxyContin? Presumably, with a Doctor's prescription, Joseph would still have a job if he was using OxyContin, even if the side effects were more problematic than "the killer weed". Not to mention that if he'd used prescription Vicodin, Percodan, or Dilaudid he would still have a job. The problem is he would also pose a "risk" to Walmart shoppers, but hey, it was never really about that was it?.
Why didn't he use one of those opiates? Medical marijuana worked better for his pain relief with virtually none of the side effects of the opiates.
I understand that Walmart pricing has lead manufacturers into a fight to the bottom, assuring the the cheapest p.o.s. is the one Walmart offers, but applying the same standards to hiring store managers may not be the best idea.
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