Wal-Mart to Pay $3.6 Million in EEOC Case

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. must pay $3.6 million in damages to a paraplegic for not hiring him to work in its Belen, N.M., store. A federal jury in Albuquerque found that Wal-Mart violated the Americans With Disabilities Act when it refused to hire Jose Zamora, a paraplegic who applied for a job at the Belen store at least six times between December 1991 and June 1993. During testimony, a store manager said that she told Zamora there were no openings every time she talked to him, according to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission documents. During the trial, the EEOC produced Wal-Mart records that showed it had 133 openings during the time of Zamora’s applications. He was qualified for 83 of them, according to EEOC documents. Wal-Mart officials weren’t available for comment, and it was not immediately known if the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer would appeal. The EEOC filed Zamora’s complaint in September 1994. The jury awarded Zamora $3.5 million in punitive damages, $75,000 in compensatory damages and $8,399 in back pay.