BRAD SELIGMAN (SBN 083838)
JOCELYN D. LARKIN (SBN 110817)
THE IMPACT FUND
125 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
Telephone: (510) 845-3473
Facsimile: (510) 845-3654 / JOSEPH SELLERS
CHRISTINE WEBBER
CHARLES TOMPKINS
JULIE GOLDSMITH
COHEN, MILSTEIN, HAUSFELD & TOLL
West Tower – Suite 500
1100 New York Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20005-3964
Telephone: (202) 408-4600
Facsimile: (202) 408-4699
IRMA D. HERRERA (SBN 98658)
DEBRA A. SMITH (SBN 147863)
EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES
1663 Mission Street, Suite 250
San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone: (415) 621-0672
Facsimile: (415) 621-6744 / STEPHEN TINKLER
MERIT BENNETT
TINKLER & BENNETT
309 Johnson Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Telephone: (505) 986-0269
Facsimile: (505) 982-6698
SHEILA Y. THOMAS (SBN 161403)
EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES
5260 Proctor Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
Telephone: (510) 339-3739
Facsimile: (510) 339-3723 / DEBRA GARDNER
PUBLIC JUSTICE CENTER
500 East Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone: (410) 625-9409
Facsimile: (410) 625-9423
STEVE STEMERMAN (SBN 067690)
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE (SBN 111781)
DAVIS, COWELL & BOWE
100 Van Ness Avenue, 20th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 626-1880
Facsimile: (415) 626-2860
Attorneys for Plaintiffs / SHAUNA MARSHALL (SBN 90641)
HASTINGS COLLEGE OF THE LAW
200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 565-4685
Facsimile: (415) 565-4854

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

BETTY DUKES, PATRICIA SURGESON, EDITH ARANA, DEBORAH GUNTER, CHRISTINE KWAPNOSKI, CLEO PAGE, KAREN WILLIAMSON, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
WAL-MART STORES, INC.,

Defendant

/ Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ
DECLARATION OF LAVERNE JONES IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

I, Laverne Jones, declare:

1. I began working at Wal-Mart in November 1977, as a Sales Clerk in the Pontotoc, Mississippi, Wal-Mart. From the beginning of my career, I communicated to Wal-Mart management that I was interested in advancement within the company and noted so on many of my annual evaluations under “career goals.” I was promoted to Department Manager in July 1978, and remained a Department Manager throughout my career. Because I am a woman, Wal-Mart did not permit me to advance past Department Management for twenty-five (25) years.

2. My job performance was rated as “above standard” or “exceeds expectations” on nearly every annual evaluation that I received in my twenty-five (25) years at Wal-Mart. I never received a rating less than “standard” or “meets expectations.” The last “standard” rating I received was over ten years ago, in 1991.

3. During my career at Wal-Mart, I never received a written or verbal “coaching,” nor was ever I ever disciplined in any form by management. Instead, I was consistently praised in my evaluations for my productivity, initiative, judgment, job knowledge, ability to work with others, appearance and attendance. For example, in September 2002, I received my last performance appraisal from my supervisor, David LeSueur. In 25 of 28 categories, I received an “exceeds expectations” rating. My rating was “meets expectations” for the other three categories. See Associate Evaluation Form, Dated 9/10/02, a true and correct copy attached hereto as Exhibit A. In 2002, I was never absent, never late for work and remained 100% current on all of my Computer Based Learning modules (“CBLs”). In fact, in twenty-five (25) years, I missed work only twice: in 1986 when I gave birth to my son and in 1994 when I had lung surgery.

4. I tried to enter the Management Training Program every year for the first fifteen years of my employment and was repeatedly discouraged by management. My desire for advancement with Wal-Mart is documented by my comments in my annual appraisals and conversations with Wal-Mart management. For example, in 1983, I wrote on my evaluation that my career goal was “to move up in the company, such as the asst. mgt.” See Associate Evaluation Form, Dated 10/6/83, a true and correct copy attached hereto as Exhibit B. In 1985, I wrote that I “would like to advance with [the] company and be considered for promotions whenever available,” and if “anything [is] available in office or asst. mgmt., I would like to be considered . . . .” See Associate Evaluation Form, Dated 6/7/85 and Associate Evaluation Form, Dated 11/1/85, true and correct copies attached hereto as Exhibits C and D.

5. I spoke with many members of Wal-Mart management about my interest in promotion over the course of my 25 years with the company. The following are typical examples of how my requests for placement in the Management Training Program were received by Wal-Mart management throughout my career:

a.. In 1986, District Manager Jim Crowe denied my requests to be placed into the Management Training Program.

b. William “Bill” Wulfers, a former Regional Vice President, told me in 1992 that I did not want to be in management because Assistant Managers are required to move around the country, and I did not want to relocate. However, I told Mr. Wulfers that I was willing to relocate at that time in order to become an Assistant Manager. Furthermore, I was aware of many male trainees who stayed at my store, because my store was known as a “training” store for management, or transferred to stores in the immediate area that were within driving distance. For example, Brad Sullivan, a male who entered the Management Training Program in 1990, was trained at my store, then moved to another location in the area, within driving distance of Pontotoc.

6. Despite my exemplary work history and requests for promotion, less experienced men were continuously chosen for the Management Training Program over me. Adam Worthham worked at my store for less than one year before becoming Department Manager and after serving just one year in that position, Mr. Worthham joined the Management Training Program in 2001. Mr. Worthham trained in a store within driving distance from Pontotoc, in West Point, Mississippi.

7. In November 2002, Coy Tutor, a male employee who had only five years of experience in my store, was asked to enter the Management Training Program, but declined. At that time, I asked Sammy Sappington, a District Manager who, like me, began working at Wal-Mart in 1977, if I could get into the Management Training Program. District Manager Sappington told me that I did not want to go into management because I had the best job in the store and that I did not want anything else. He also told me that there were only a handful of promotable people in the store. When I asked why Mr. Tutor could join the program, Mr. Sappington replied, “He’s a man, he doesn’t have a family.” That was his only explanation for why Mr. Tutor was promotable, yet I was not.

8. In June 1997, I was part of a group of female Wal-Mart employees, including Brenda Lipsey and Bonnie Ware, who used the “open door” policy by contacting the Home Office with our concerns and complaints of sexual and racial discrimination. Part of our complaint was the fact that men were almost always put on “support teams,” where they earned more money through a shift differential of one dollar more per hour, while women were often overlooked for this position. Cheryl Ford, from Wal-Mart personnel, came from the Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas, to talk to us. She said, “Don’t bother using your quarter to call us. I can fire you, without taking any steps, for using the open door.” My experience with Ms. Ford made me reluctant to use the “open door” policy because of the fear of retaliation and further confirmed for me that Wal-Mart was not concerned about discrimination in its stores.

9. After twenty-five years of employment at Wal-Mart, I received only one promotion, and that was six months after I started working at Wal-Mart.

I have personal knowledge of each and every fact set forth in the Declaration, and if called to testify as a witness in this matter, I could and would competently testify to each of these facts.

I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and State of Mississippi that the foregoing is true and correct.

This Declaration was signed by me on ______, 2003, in the City of ______, State of Mississippi.

______

Laverne Jones

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Declaration of Laverne Jones in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ