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
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
SHEILA Y. THOMAS (SBN 161403)
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
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 / DEBRA GARDNER
PUBLIC JUSTICE CENTER
500 East Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone: (410) 625-9409
Facsimile: (410) 625-9423
SHAUNA MARSHALL (SBN 90641)
HASTINGS COLLEGE OF THE LAW
200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 565-4685
Facsimile: (415) 565-4854
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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,Plaintiff,
vs.
WAL-MART STORES, INC.,
Defendant
/ Case No. C-01-2252 MJJDECLARATION OF SUE BROWN IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
I, Sue Brown, declare:
1. I have worked as a full-time sales associate in electronics in Wal-Mart, Inc.’s store # 1269 in Louisville, Kentucky, since October 1997. I have never been promoted.
2. I am a retired school teacher with a Master’s Degree.
3. My starting rate of pay at Wal-Mart was $5.40. After 90 days, my pay was increased to $5.70; at my first annual evaluation in September 1998 it went up to $5.93; during my second year it was increased again to $6.24, and at my two-year evaluation in September 1999, I got another increase to $7.05; in September 2000, at my three-year evaluation, I got another raise to $7.35; and at my four-year evaluation, my pay went to $7.64, and finally, at my five-year evaluation in September 2002, I got another increase to $7.95.
4. Sometime in mid-2000, I discovered that at least one of the high-school-age boys working in the electronics department was making more money than I was. His name is Ben Risner, then age 17. He was hired by the General Manager, Martin Wagner, and I trained him in our department. He told me he was making more money than I was and had started at a higher rate than I was making at that time. He recently told me that he is now making $8.35.
5. In June 2000, I asked my department manager, Judy Kuhn, why my pay was lower than a high school boy’s and she said, “You don’t have the right equipment.” When I asked what she meant by that, she said, “You aren’t male, so you can’t expect to be paid the same.”
6. One young man in the department, Joe [last name unknown], frequently used foul language and made lewd remarks in my presence. I asked him to stop talking like this in my presence, and he just said, “then don’t listen.” I complained to Ms. Kuhn, the department manager, but she just said “boys will be boys” and did not talk to Joe. I spoke with a male Assistant Manager, Chris Klein, who told me to put my complaint in writing, and when I did, he told me to take it to the General Manager, Mr. Wagner. He read it, laughed and said “whatever.” None of these managers ever said they would talk with Joe, and as far as I know, none of them ever did. He continued to tell lewd stories in my presence throughout the time he worked there.
7. I am required to clean and stock the electronics department, but the boys working alongside me are not.
8. In July 2000, I asked my new department manager, Janet Chandley, why I have these additional responsibilities, and she told me that the boys’ main job is “to service the customers.” I believe that is my main job as well, but only Barbara Bartley and I, the only female sales associates in the electronics department, have these additional tasks, even though we have both worked there longer than any of the young boys.
9. On or about June 15, 2001, I talked with my department manager, Ms. Chandley, about getting a merit raise. I asked because I had learned from Ben Risner that he and Alex Young, another very young man, had gotten merit raises, and they were laughing and talking in my presence about having done nothing to deserve them. I had been at Wal-Mart almost four years and still was not making what these young men were making. Ms. Chandley told me that I probably would not get the raise I asked for, because she was the department manager and even her hourly rate was “lower than the guys’ in the department.”
10. A few weeks later, when I complained again to Ms. Chandley about my pay being so much lower than the young boys’, she told me that she could not help me because she herself was also paid less than the male department managers in the store.
11. I was terribly discouraged by these comments and, as a result, and because of my bad experience when I complained about Joe’s inappropriate conduct, I did not talk with anyone other than my department managers about the pay disparity.
12. Despite the fact that I have a Master’s Degree and significant life experience, no one at Wal-Mart has ever encouraged me to seek a management position. Until January 2003, I had never seen any information in my store about a management training program, and I am not aware of any women in my store who have gotten into any program like that.
13. I did not actually see a description of the management training program that was announced in January 2003. I was out during that month for two weeks due to a severe sprained ankle, and when I returned to work, I saw a brief full color announcement next to the time clock announcing a new management training program for women and that application could be made on the store computer. The announcement had not been posted before I took my medical leave. However, I soon learned that the deadline for applying had also passed while I was on leave. If a longer application time had been given, I could and would have applied when I returned to work and saw the announcement.
14. 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 Kentucky that the foregoing is true and correct.
This Declaration was signed by me on ______, 2003, at ______.
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Declaration of Sue Brown in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ