Wal-Mart Lawsuit Versus Debbie Shank

I have learned this news item on CNN over the weekend. Wal-Mart was suing their former employee Debbie Shank and asking her to pay back $470,000 worth of health and benefits plan Wal-Mart have provided her. To give a little background on Debbie Shank, she used to work at Wal-Mart when she had a traffic accident eight years ago causing her short-term memory loss and brain damage leaving her on a wheelchair.

Debbie Shank claimed her medical benefits on Wal-Mart but wasn’t aware of the clause that once you get a financial claim from a third-party, you are not entitled for their benefits. This clause brought the victory of Wal-Mart over Debbie Shank.

Debbie Shank now lives in a nursing home while her husband has two jobs. Their children stopped from schooling while their other son died on Iraq. Since she has short-term memory loss, every time she looks for his son, it breaks her heart to know that he died in Iraq.

I think this case is a matter of social and moral conscience. Wal-Mart could have been an angel to Debbie Shank but instead gave more heartache to the family. Debbie Shank deserved the money. I feel for her family and I hope they could cope up and good Samaritans can help her with her medical expenses.

What can we do to help Debbie Shank? There are online petitions in FaceBook and in YouTube. Let us sign these online petitions to support Debbie Shank. This can somewhat shake up Wal-Mart and let Debbie Shank have her money.

Picture courtesy of CNN

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