The American mega supermarket chain Walmart has just received an exemplary sanction. They will have to pay almost 35 million dollars (34.7 million specifically) to one of their truck drivers.
The company The truck driver was fired during a medical leave as a result of a work accident, accusing him of fraud. Now a California jury has handed down a very harsh sentence in favor of the worker.
There was no fraud on the part of the trucker
Jesús ‘Jesse’ Fonseca worked for 14 years in an exemplary manner for Walmart’s Apple Valley distribution center (San Bernardino, California). So much so that after an accident he was part of a nationwide campaign by the company itself as the visible face of the company’s drivers.
In the mishap, another company truck hit its semi-trailer from behind in 2017, causing consequences. A medical tribunal declared the sick leave of the worker who was then 54 years old, who You should not push, pull, lift anything over 5kg, or drive for long periods of time. a heavy vehicle.
The jury ordered a sanction of 25 million for punitive damages and another of 9.7 million for non-economic losseswhich include the mental suffering that the worker has faced for falsely accusing him of fraud and, consequently, firing him, according to Fonseca’s lawyers to CBS.
Walmart put the worker under surveillance during medical leave and was seen driving his car and crouching down. It was Jesse himself who reported that he was going on a trip with his family in a motorhome and on a cruise with his wife for their anniversary during sick leave, according to Court House News.
Fonseca’s lawyers argued that the driving ban focused on commercial, not personal, vehicles, noting at trial “Walmart’s defamation of Jesse was part of a plan to use false accusations to force injured truck drivers to return to work or fire them.
Drive a truck professionally It’s not a really comfortable job. even if you sit most of the time. I’m telling you from experience. Despite what progress has been made in recent decades, ergonomics is not the best for a human body: sitting for 8 hours a day (minimum), five days a week and hundreds of days a year takes its toll.
To this we must add the constant impacts and vibrations that the column receives and that in trucks they try to mitigate with complex pneumatic or mechanical suspension systems not only in the axles, but also in the cabin supports and in the seats themselves.
Furthermore, far from just driving from point A to point B (and then to C, and to D…), you have to get up and down countless times from the cabin, up and down to the loading platform (many times jumping) or bend down to hitch/unhitch the semi-trailer. And that is without counting the loading and unloading operations that They are not supposed to be at the trucker’s expense.. It’s supposed…
Photo | Walmart
Source: www.motorpasion.com
