There I was, poised in front of my TV ready to forgive and forget. The big, bad corporate beast named Wal-mart had done the right thing and bowed to public pressure. WE THE PEOPLE had won and won big. All was right with the world of retail. Watching CNN, which took full credit for not only breaking the story but for inspiring the revolt that ensued, a round table of pundits pondered why.
Why, their legal expert wondered, would this company that had fought so tenaciously and won so overwhelmingly suddenly capitulate to the Shank family? Why after attempting to bankrupt a family who not only lost the functioning of its matriarch, but their son in combat in Iraq as well, would the company have such a sudden change of heart? The reason, it seems, is that Wal-mart has a military problem. Rather, a patriotism-deficit public relations nightmare.
Feds sue Wal-Mart over airman's job
March 31, 2008, 9:27PM
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Department of Justice has sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on behalf of a former airman, claiming the company didn't give him his job back after he was discharged from the military, the department announced Monday.
The lawsuit on behalf of Sean Thornton, a former airman with the United States Air Force, alleges Wal-Mart violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by failing to reinstate him as a cashier at an Orange City store after he was discharged.
Wal-mart got caught on the record not wearing its American flag lapel pin. Forgiveness put on hold.