Weissinger begins explaining that an “Insider-Outsider” status is present in this lawsuit, and that white plaintiffs did not mention their personal race except in regards to others. She then shares two plaintiffs experiences who were in management roles at Wal-Mart. One of the women she spotlights is Lorie Williams, a Front-End Manager. Lorie claims that she was given poor treatment because she hired many African American females who were so called “intimidating” and was told to “whiten up the front end”. Lorie of course disagreed with this statement, but her male managers were set in their ways. Additionally, a Store Manager named Melissa Howard believes she was discriminated due to her mixed race family. Melissa was recently promoted in a different location. As she was looking for a new home near her new store, she was treated poorly when stopping by the local Wal-Mart with her African American husband, and by potential landlords during her home search who stated her daughter would not be safe living there. When she asked the male Regional Personnel Manager to be placed in any other location due to this awful experience, she was refused and had to take a demotion back at her old store. Both of these women were not discriminated for their race, but for their “incompetencies” and personal lifestyle choices. When these women attempted to do what they thought was right for themselves and for others, they were denied. Furthermore, these women were able to move up in the company, probably due to the fact that they were white, and the male managers blatantly discriminated others based on race in front of them, giving the white women more power than the black.
Wessinger then shares Ms. Jennifer Johnson’s statement, who experienced race and sex based discrimination. Ms. Johnson, an African American woman, details her long struggle to rise to an Assistant Manager position, while watching other white male colleagues get promoted much faster than she. When she finally reaches her coveted position, a man in her department was very jealous and disrespectful toward her upon asking him to complete tasks. When she voiced this concern to her Store Manager, she was told that she had “two strikes against you: 1) you’re a woman; 2) you’re black.” Following this disheartening story of racism and sexism, Weissinger shares the story of a Latina women, Ms. Gina Espinoza-Price, who was able to attain a District Manager position in Mexico. When she was first promoted, her male boss introduced her as “the little Mexican Princess” to the other District Managers at a meeting. What’s more, is an offensive flyer with “jokes” about women being stupid was left on her belongings. When she told to her Personnel Manager, he lied to her and said he would take care of this situation, but nothing happened. This is apparent racism and gender based discrimination, and further proves the point that racism must also be taken into account with this lawsuit. Both of these women attempted to rectify their situations, and both were blatantly ignored and had to succumb to just dealing with it, to keep their jobs.
Last, Weissinger illustrates the element of class that is present in this lawsuit. Ms. Uma Jean Minor from Alabama, a single mother of five, had to work for about 7 years to get promoted to a position at Wal-Mart that could actually help her afford to raise her family. While working and waiting, she was forced to take on a second job for several years to try to keep her family out of poverty. Weissinger explains that she was probably discriminated because of her lower class status, alongside gender. When women take low paying jobs, it puts them at a great disadvantage when they are in need of government assistance, which is exactly what Ms. Minor really needed. Instead, she thought she could get by, which further validates the need to include class based discrimination in this lawsuit.
Weissinger’s case study drives to produce evidence that all women experience discrimination differently. While all plaintiffs experienced gender based discrimination, it is equally important to include class and race based discrimination in their statements and in the lawsuit. She makes this concept crystal clear when sharing individuals stories with her findings of insider outsider statuses, the heavy significance of race, and class matters. Some women were able to reach high ranking positions at Wal-Mart only with much determination and financial obligations, but were forced to undergo this cruel treatment. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the women who filed the class action suit in 2011. It is still possible for the individual plaintiffs to sue Wal-Mart, but that will only help the individuals themselves, and not bring about the broad scale change that Wal-Mart desperately needs.
I agree with Sandra Weissinger when she shows us that gender, race, and class discrimination was present in this lawsuit and that they are equally important when gender discrimination is present. I have some questions for you....
- Do you think it would have helped if the lawsuit was organized in such a way to illustrate these points?
- Should we be separating sex, class, and gender discrimination and pointing out power relationships, or should we bundle them together like this lawsuit did?
- Do you think that would have taken away the power of the “Class Action” status that this lawsuit had, if they had broken apart the types of discrimination?
- What do you think would have made these women win the suit?
- *I found this short youtube video documenting the lawsuit. Enjoy!
Source:
Weissinger, Sandra E. "Chapter 36 - Gender Matters. So Do Race and Class. Experiences of Gendered Racism on the Wal-Mart Shop Floor." Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology. Andersen, Margaret L., and Collins Patricia. Hill. Sandra E We Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1995
305-313. Print.
It is hard to believe that this is still an issue. I had been currently looking to take on a second job and have been going through the interview process. As a woman it is very interesting to see how differently men and woman interview. A woman is more soft spoken and ask more about your background and since I work in the medical field they talk about the doctors behaviors as well. The men typically just give a job description and are more stern and forward.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the question about separating race, class, and gender discrimination instead focusing on power relationships would necessarily do much good. I don't feel that the women involved in this lawsuit would have won if the categories were separated. I think that because the majority of the courts are male that tends to sway the favor the decision is made in. For example, in family court, the case tends to sway in favor of the mother instead of the father.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this article (it made my blood boil, but it was definitely interesting). It's terrifying that this bureaucratic monstrosity, Walmart, not only seems to breed this type of discriminatory behavior, but that it seems to have enough economic power to evade prosecution in even the most hot-button issues: sexism and racism in the 21st Century. That these managers think it is acceptable to openly discriminate is horrific. That being said, I think that in a class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs have much better odds of winning when they present a single, compelling case with one clear narrative. Regardless of the many layers of discrimination which make up the Walmart culture of prejudice, having many separate points of contention within the suit may diffuse its potency.
ReplyDeleteIn the context of a neoliberal business environment, where the business over shadows the individual because of it's role as the "job giver", Wallmart as presented in this article is an intersting study. Of course gender matters to the individuals presented in this article, as does race. What has the most potent effect on the individual is the overall tone that we have allowed business to take in our society in the last thirty years. Corporations rule the individual. It should concern us, as witnessed by the outcome of the case mentioned in this article, that there is not a natural counterpoint to business to provide us all with a middle point and that instead we are stuck largly on one side.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the narratives have more power in the lawsuit when they are combined. I think focusing on the issue of women being paid less than and not receiving promotions as much as men was a smart legal decision. Nevertheless, it is so interesting to see the individual stories of these women and how they are also impacted by race. Even the white women who seemingly were able to "rise above the occupational glass ceiling" of the company were affected by race because of their own non-prejudiced views and lifestyles. Weissenger's great job of proving that gender,race and class all intersect in a huge conglomerate like Walmart, along with the other readings this week, really helped me see intersectionality in work from a new perspective.
ReplyDeleteVanny325...I couldn't agree more with you that this article really helped me understand just how intersected gender is with race and class.
DeleteGreat comments all of you!
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