Former, present employees rally in LV against Wal-Mart

Christina Almeida

Thursday, May 22, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

Dozens of past and present female Wal-Mart Stores employees donned "I'm anti-Wal-Mart" sashes and cardboard tiaras on Wednesday in Las Vegas to protest the corporation's employment practices and gain support for a pending lawsuit.

The demonstrators joined Miss America 1992 Carolyn Sapp, who has become a spokeswoman for the group that claims the retail giant discriminates against women.

"Wal-Mart, the largest corporation in America, pays women less than they pay men," Sapp said at a rally in front of a Wal-Mart store at Charleston and Decatur boulevards.

"We're here to take a stand, to have a voice," she said.

Through TV commercials and events across the country, the women plan to appeal for support as their lawyers prepare for a court hearing later this summer that could make the case a class-action suit.

More than 100 women have filed sworn declarations in the case, alleging they were passed over for promotions and were paid less than their male counterparts. The suit seeks to represent as many as 1.5 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees.

Wal-Mart officials say the lawsuit represents isolated incidents and is not representative of the company.

"In a company as large as Wal-Mart, there are going to be some knuckleheads who make bad decisions, but that's not Wal-Mart," said Mona Williams, vice president of communications. "That's not reflective of Wal-Mart and when we find out about these bad decisions, we deal with these people."

Bernadine Brooks, of Las Vegas, said she left her job working for Wal-Mart after 10 years when she was rejected for a support manager position that was later given to an 18-year-old man.

"I watched many men come and go," Brooks said. "I watched men right out of high school get promoted (over me)."

The suit, filed in San Francisco in June 2001, alleges there are nearly double the number of women in management at competing retail stores. It also alleges the company retaliates against women who complain.

Gina Espinoza-Price, 42, of San Diego, said she was fired after she complained when a colleague introduced her as their "little Mexican princess." A former district manager who helped the company open dozens of stores in Mexico and Canada, Espinoza-Price said she filed a wrongful termination suit against the company and later settled for an undisclosed sum.

"It was never about money for me. It's about right and wrong," said Espinoza-Price, who has filed a declaration supporting the women named in the suit.

Three-quarters of the Bentonville, Ark., retail chain's 1 million employees are female but women hold less than one-third of managerial positions, according to the suit.

Williams said Wal-Mart promotes women at the same rate that they apply for positions.

A hearing date has been set for July 25.