Walmart Ordered to Pay Former Truck Driver $35M in Damages

A jury has ordered Walmart to pay a former truck driver $35 million in damages after determining that the retail giant defamed the ex-employee.

CBS News reports that in addition to $9.7 million for potential non-economic losses like enjoyment of life and mental suffering, driver Jesus “Jesse” Fonseca will also receive $25 million in punitive damages. In a statement to the outlet, Fonseca’s lawyers said the jury concluded that Walmart had wrongly accused him of breaking its integrity standard under its statement of ethics.

The retail giant deemed the ruling “outrageous” and said it “simply does not reflect the straightforward and uncontested facts of this case.”

“Accordingly, we will pursue all available remedies,” a rep for Walmart told the outlet.

In a 2019 lawsuit against Walmart, his lawyers claimed that Fonseca, a 14-year employee of the company’s Apple Valley distribution plant in San Bernardino County, was hurt when another semi-truck struck his semi-truck from behind while he was working a June 2017 shift.

After submitting a workers’ compensation claim for his injuries, doctors advised him to cease operating a commercial vehicle and to refrain from pushing, pulling, or lifting anything weighing more than 10 pounds. According to the lawsuit, the retail giant did not make accommodations for these job restrictions.

According to his lawyers, Fonseca was put on sick leave but was later fired, purportedly after the retail giant monitored him and found out he had driven a personal vehicle. Fonseca was aware that he was simply prohibited from driving commercially and that he was free to drive his own car.

The evidence in the case “showed that Walmart’s defamation of Jesse was part of a broader scheme to use false accusations to force injured truckers back to work prematurely or, if not, terminate them so that Walmart can cut down workers’ compensation costs,” said Beverly Hills trial lawyer David M. deRubertis, an attorney for Fonseca, in a statement to the outlet.

Walmart Had Other Lawsuits

This is just the latest lawsuit that Walmart has had to settle. Back in July, the retail giant paid $2.5 million for a class-action COVID settlement.

Judge Susan M. Brnovich granted the parties final approval of their settlement agreement on July 15, bringing an end to the more than three-year-old conflict. Under the leadership of Kathy Arrison and Tristan Smith, the class members publicly stated their claims that Walmart violated labor laws by failing to compensate employees for time spent conducting pandemic-related health checks and keeping accurate records of such work.

“Plaintiffs entered settlement negotiations from a strong position and were able to negotiate a fair and adequate settlement for the class,” Brnovich wrote in her order.

Brnovich added that $625,000 for legal fees and about $118,000 in counsel reimbursements were also included in the settlement agreement. For their efforts, Smith and Arrison received awards of $5,000. The settlement administrator, Simpluris, received almost $207,000.