THE WORST CASE OF WALMART EMPLOYEE ABUSE IN U.S. HISTORY

The National Jury will now hear (after a minimum of 1500 manhours of careful evidentiary research and attention to fine detail on our part) the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about one of the most long-term, totally despicable and incredibly bizarre employer abuse cases in U.S. legal history.[1]

Walmart has seen most of the same evidence as you the Jury soon will and seems blithely oblivious to the potential damage to the brand. That is, Walmart has expressed no concern, whatsoever about the sure to come Mother of all PR disasters when the general public is made aware of its trashy legal tactics and employee abuse. So self-assured, so chronically arrogant and set in its ways, this mega corporation evidently takes for granted that Its 145 million U.S. weekly shoppers might take notice when one of the flock has been singled out and pulled down by Walmart’s predation but don’t believe these valued customers will be concerned about the welfare of a nameless, faceless Hispanic woman living in faraway Phoenix, Arizona. [Thursday, January 6, 2022-Via telecon and three different emails (on file) to Walmart’s local attorneys, we recently made the last of a series of offers to reach a reasonable settlement before launching the crowdfunding website. Not surprisingly, the response has been resounding, stony silence.]

A brief bio of Claudia Maria Sobarzo: Claudia was told she was born [2] on the U.S./Mexico border in May of ‘77 and when but a few days old, was carried across the U.S. border. Thereafter, not one breath nor one step taken was in any other than a dreary, chaotic and poverty-stricken circumstance brought about by criminally derelict parents. Homeless at times? Yes she was. As a child while living in an abandoned house, did she or one of her many siblings set fire to the house with a candle they were using for light? Yes, this really happened. All got out but huddled in the darkness and winter cold of the Arizona desert watching their few worldly possessions go up in flames. Orphaned and on her own at 17, still in High School and the sole caregiver to two younger brothers? Yes indeed.

Now, begins the story about Walmart’s serial abuse of the hard-working young woman, Claudia Maria Sobarzo, who had the audacity to try to better herself by accepting a long dreamed of and much-deserved assistant store manager’s job for Walmart, Inc. in the Phoenix, Arizona trade area.[3] The capital-lettered caption at the top of this page tells the reader what the story is about; read on and learn how it started and about the five year-long series of abuses by Walmart, Inc..

Though not legally related to other abuses, the first instance of Walmart abusing Claudia occurred back in 2010 when she was pregnant with our little boy. Read how a Walmart store manager abused a pregnant Claudia—twice! Into her second trimester, Claudia was stocking near the drug counters (same store that filed the false shoplifting charges) when she was struck a glancing blow on her forehead by a falling object that we now know had to have been a large, solid glass lens (2-3 lbs.) from an overhead security camera. LINK: Falling Security Cam Lens.jpg, Claudia and her family were very lucky this day. Had the lens struck dead center, the odds are she and our precious little boy would not be with us. She was knocked to the floor but was very quickly helped to her feet by co-workers, a gash on her forehead bleeding profusely. No doubt someone applied gauze or some means of stopping the bleeding and then the store asst. manager, a woman, rushed her to the emergency room. The medics sewed up the wound (without anesthetic) and their report stated she had suffered a mild concussion. Back in the store. Claudia told the male manager she had a headache, was dizzy and asked permission to go home. No, said the manager, we’re short-handed and if you leave you will be coached. Rather than risk her job, she stayed and finished her shift. Claudia could have sued the pants off Walmart, why didn’t she? To further demonstrate Claudia’s loyalty to Walmart, consider this slip/fall accident that befell Claudia at another Walmart store, several years before the pregnancy abuse. A careless maintenance person washed down a walk-in freezer floor and failed to squeegee it dry leaving an invisible film of ice. In walks Claudia and another female employee L.S.. Their feet went out from under them simultaneously. Ms. S. landed on her buttocks and was not injured; Claudia was not so lucky. She came down on her left knee tearing the cartilage so badly that surgery could not completely repair it. She will pass from this world to the next still suffering pain from this knee injury. When I asked her why she didn’t sue Walmart she simply said, at that time, she planned on working for Walmart the rest of her life and never even thought about suing the store.

Late in her third trimester, after stocking 50 lb. boxes of vinegar and other heavy merchandise, at her next exam, Claudia learned amniotic fluid leaks and a bleeding placenta had been discovered. She was then placed on maternity leave. The medical report stated lifting was the probable cause of the conditions. True stories.

Fast forward to 2015

LINK to follow brings you up to speed about how shabbily and disrespectful her associates treated Claudia at the Mesa store her first asst. manager’s position: Claudia’s Story

After hoping and praying for years, her dream came true; she was promoted for good reason, by Walmart, to an assistant store manager’s position (see above link). What happened to Claudia after she was assigned to a Mesa Walmart store is the stuff of which bad dreams are made. After being viciously forced out of this her first store, she endured a series of humiliating abuses ending with a shoplifting frameup hanging over her head. Because of this, she could not get a decent job, one that paid enough to even begin to support her family. The link to follow will allow the reader to put a face on Claudia. The stale cake in the photo had been zeroed out of store inventory (twice) and was to help celebrate a young associate’s promotion. The box cake was consumed by all those on shift that evening including the store manager who no doubt, was the ringleader of the later plot to fire Claudia for stealing the same cake! (also, a true story) LINK this is jose.. [4] All that misery, poverty and five years of a human being’s life and her family’s down the drain over a worthless Walmart box cake? LINK: First Incident-Mesa Store. This Gestapo-like interrogation is used by Walmart security and loss prevention on a regular basis. BTW, for those who would like to know the real reason why Claudia was fired from this first Walmart store, follow this LINK: Greta.

This homeless woman story tells the reader a lot about Claudia’s character doesn’t it? She didn’t have to go to bat for Greta the homeless woman but she naïvely did so and paid a dear price for this act of common decency. There was a target on her back from that day on. Walmart store managers told Claudia she would not be playing a role in any future firings or decision making. Approximately one month later, Claudia was fired by the same people who had tried to fire the homeless woman, for exactly the same reason. Coincidence??

If ever there was a star-crossed human being, Claudia must surely be one of them. The poor thing could not catch a break no matter how hard she tried. Claudia’s Patron Saint is joe-btfsplk.jpg the Al Capp cartoon character. And in the next link we find a gracefully tall and thin lass on a Merry-Go-Round Going for the Gold.jpg. Claudia, the girl astride the fanciful wooden steed will grab that brass ring and so will you. Just stay on your carrousel horse for one more go-around and then reach out as far as you can and let us pray the jury will see to it Walmart does not slap your hand away for the second time.

In the interest of brevity, we will not further dwell on the story of her wrongful termination from the first store and the degrading treatment she suffered at other stores is only mentioned to set the stage for the most recent and thoroughly outrageous abuse. On second thought maybe the jury would like to read Claudia’s cell phone conversation with another of Walmart’s local employees? The individual to whom she is pleading her cause went well out of his way to find a reason to fire Claudia. Trust me on this one, this story is one unto itself and is so long and complicated, I chose not to include it. But suffice to say this person’s actions were not only vicious and pennyante but also in violation of State and Federal labor laws. Grasping at straws, Walmart delved back into times when Claudia was an orphaned teenager, still in high school and found where she had been convicted of a cashing a duplicate Child Protective Services check and claimed [5] she had failed to state the fact on her original job application. Claudia told the woman (Ruth) who took her original application about the charge and was assured Walmart didn’t care about something that minor and that long ago. Heavy stuff huh?? Over the years, Claudia had passed numerous background checks every time she was promoted and the issue never surfaced. Why now, do you suppose? Might the fact that Walmart’s local, contract private investigator was called in to conduct a special background check have anything to do with the outcome?? He did interview Claudia. Can anyone believe this cloak and dagger operation was set up just to make an example of a Hispanic woman who had nerve enough to challenge the Corporation?! 10 points xtra

Fast forward to Walmart’s vicious retaliation against Claudia for filing the first of two EEOC complaints against the corporation in 2017. In retaliation, she was blacklisted throughout the trade area and after applying for at least 100 different jobs and being turned down for 100 jobs she was forced to give up. See proof:→ Claudia’s Walmart Job Applications [6] 

Now, you patient folks will hear a more detailed account of the most complex, convoluted shoplifting case in U.S. history, no doubt about it and even more remarkable is that Walmart’s charges are fact-free; nothing but a pack of preposterous lies, start to finish. Out of jealousy and spiteful, mindless hatred for Claudia, three or four kiss-up type clerks at subject Walmart store conspired to frame, or by their actions, deliberate or otherwise, cause Claudia to be charged with felony shoplifting. The fact that two of the three charges featured a concealment component makes it hard to believe Walmart shopgirls alone [7] authored the charges as presented to PHX PD. We must leave the following question unanswered: were these low-level employees aided and abetted by Walmart Legal, in a conspiracy to frame Claudia for Class 4 Felony shoplifting, thus guaranteeing her chances of ever being able to support her family were forever lost? [8] Jury, will you please ponder such ignorant, pissant behavior for a moment? Ponder if you will, Walmart, with all its power and influence using Its near infinite resources to jeopardize a penniless, poorly represented, middle-aged woman’s very existence; her right to live. Imagine such a sorry spectacle if you can. As oft- repeated, this stupidly evil scheme, had it succeeded, would have also destroyed two innocent children’s futures. See Claudia’s two little ones whose childhood is still in jeopardy but their affection for one another is not; they are inseparable. LINK: John and baby Jacob (2).JPG. We call the older child “The Brain” for good reason. He’s like a big, friendly Sheepdog helping us corral the overly rambunctious Jacob Grayson who will be a 2 on April 15th 2021 and John Henry will be an 11 in June. This “collateral or secondary damage” business needs looking into, does the Jury not agree? See how Jacob and his hair have grown! BabyJacob. Jacob Grayson is 20 months old in this picture.

 

 

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  1. A close comparison is Juarez v. AutoZone which resulted in a hundred-million-dollar judgment against AutoZone. Claudia’s claim is at least ten times greater than Rosario Juarez’s. Had the case gone to trial would we have seen a billion-dollar judgment rendered against Walmart? ↑

  2. Born behind the eight ball on the wrong side of the tracks, naturally Claudia would be lacking in the social graces but offsets this expected shortcoming by having a heart of gold. When one considers the path, she’s trod….. ↑

  3. This manager’s position was Claudia’s American dream that soon morphed into a American nightmare. ↑

  4. Jose is the little, green critter on the right. We believe, (redacted) the young woman who snapped the photo, was “coached” by Walmart local management not to answer any questions. When Claudia called her she outright refused to talk to Claudia and hung up. When I called she said she didn’t know any Claudia and screamed she was going to call her attorney and hung up. ↑

  5. No proof was ever offered and Claudia was denied a copy of her termination papers?! ↑

  6. Catch-22. Prior to the times called out by job applications file, Claudia had been drawing Walmart disability for both physical and emotional afflictions. Eventually, Walmart’s contractor, in Bentonville, Arkansas, informed Claudia their doctor’s opinion trumped that of Claudia’s local doctors and declared Claudia was fit for duty; she could go back to work! From their office, 1200 miles away, Walmart’s doctor was able to perform this medical miracle. But guess what? Though declared fit and ready for duty, Claudia could not find a position of any kind with Walmart because Walmart’s false accusations of theft had spread thru the district stores like wildfire. No work for you Claudia even though you had done nothing wrong. ↑

  7. What are the odds these women would be conversant in ARS §13-1805 I, which calls out State law with regards to using an artifice to engage in shoplifting? ↑

  8. Jury needs to understand Walmart based the false felony shoplifting charge on canvas bags, 4 and 5-28-2018 incidents and (redacted)’s body cam footage ref. 6-07-2018 where she tries to dupe the Officer into believing he is seeing Claudia concealing merchandise in a shopping bag and concealing two cases of beer with her purse. This was “the bait” and Phx PD took it. We say this because had Phx Pd and Phoenix City Prosecutor actually read the incident report and then reviewed the security cam tapes, they would have immediately seen what was going on. Phoenix PD determined, carelessly, that Claudia had used an “artifice” (bags) to aid in the shoplifting and this automatically elevated the charges to a Class 4 Felony, per Arizona Revised Statutes. ↑