US High court rejects case of injured Wal-Mart employee (Shank to Wal-Mart: 'Be a human being')

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/03/18/business/031908shankruling.txt

Shank to Wal-Mart: 'Be a human being'
Last updated Tuesday, March 18, 2008 6:21 PM CDT in Business

A former Wal-Mart employee has reached the end of the road for legal recourse against her former employer.

Debbie Shank, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., will have to reimburse Wal-Mart almost $500,000 following a bitter legal dispute over the rights to her settlement money from a traffic accident that left her brain damaged, disabled and penniless.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear her case, and let stand a ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis that Shank pay Wal-Mart $470,000 the retailer spent on her medical care.

Jim Shank, Debbie's husband, contemplated the future of his family and fielded calls from the media on a stormy Tuesday in the St. Louis area.

"She's 52 and she's going to live a life in a nursing home. I just got a call today from the head nurse, and (Debbie) hasn't eaten in a couple days and she's talking about wanting to die," Shank said. "It makes the visits hard."

His wife remains severely brain damaged and disabled in a semi-private room of a nursing home that her family is unsure it will be able to afford after Wal-Mart is paid. The settlement money, plus almost $52,000, is now owed to Wal-Mart.

FULL story at link.

[Amy6627]

1. That is F*CKING discusting! n/t

[Earth Bound Misfit]

2. My Sister used shop @ Wal-Mart until I showed her....

this story. She doesn't shop there anymore.

Source:WSJ

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119551952474798582.html?mod=blog

"I don't understand why they need to do this," says Mr. Shank on a recent visit to the nursing home, between shifts as a maintenance worker and running a tanning salon. "This girl needs the money more than they do." Mrs. Shank, who needs help with eating and other basic tasks, spends more time alone since Mr. Shank had to let her private caregiver go. At some point, he says, she may have to be moved from a private to a semi-private room in the nursing home where she lives.

The reason is a clause in Wal-Mart's health plan that Mrs. Shank didn't notice when she started stocking shelves at a nearby store eight years ago. Like most company health plans, Wal-Mart's reserves the right to recoup the medical expenses it paid for someone's treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit.

Until recently, many employers didn't vigilantly enforce the provision, and some states and federal courts didn't think the claim held water. But as the cost of covering workers continues to escalate, employers and health plans are getting more aggressive about going after the money. A Supreme Court ruling last year also has given them a clearer legal map to suing employees and winning.

In insurance circles, the recovery practice is called "subrogation." Employers and insurers say it's necessary to ensure that medical expenses aren't paid twice. By recovering those costs from someone who's been compensated elsewhere, they argue, they're saving money for everyone on the plan.

Sharon Weber, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, declined to discuss the details of the Shanks' case, but said the company was obliged to act in the interest of the health benefits of its employees as a whole. "While the case involves a tragic situation, our responsibility is to follow the provisions of the plan which governs the health benefits of our associates," she said.

"Employers are trying to make sure these plans run as efficiently as possible," says Jay Kirschbaum, a senior vice president at global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings. "They also have a fiduciary duty to the plan and the entire group of employees that are covered by it."

On edit: FIDUCIARY DUTY MY FLABBY WHITE ASS! THEY COULD'VE GOTTEN SOME MUCH NEEDED GOOD PR BY JUST LETTING THE SHANKS KEEP THE MONEY, BUT THE GREEDY BASTARDS CAN'T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

3. The Shanks

Above, Deborah and Jim Shank. Right, a photo of the family before the accident.

[DainBramaged]

4. Why you must NEVER SHOP at WalMart, ever

When these people die, they will be as naked, penniless and dead as the rest of us, but until then, do not enrich these scumbags.