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Subscribe by EmailSpeaking of Wal-Mart: anecdotal evidence
Thanks, Michael, for the update on Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the behemoth class action alleging sex discrimination in hiring and promotion at the retail giant.
It reminded me of a brief story I wanted to tell.
About a month ago, here in St. Louis, I was sitting in a neighbor’s backyard at a barbecue celebrating their son’s high school graduation. They treated this as a major family occasion, like a wedding, so a number of East Coast relatives flew in.
I heard a young lady mention Wal-Mart and perked up my ears. It was a 20-something cousin of the graduate, who had come from Connecticut.
She’s a single mom who’s been working for Wal-Mart since high school, starting as a one-hour photo technician and working up to assistant manager.
She had nothing but good things to say about the company, including health benefits. Her plan is to go to school part time and get a business degree and then “get my own store” (i.e. promotion to a store manager position).
Politely, I probed whether and why she thought this was realistic. Well, she is quite confident, and it appears quite realistic. She has had a series of promotions and been expressly told that she is being groomed for a store manager position.
This kind of subjective singling out for promotion and mentoring is one of the aspects of Wal-Mart’s procedures being challenged as discriminatory — and in the big picture it may in fact have a disparate impact.
But as this story indicates, it can also be a useful tool for ensuring nondiscrimination — by providing support and opportunities to the most qualified employees regardless of race, sex, etc., trusting that store managers, through daily contact and supervision, are in the best position to judge qualifications.
Ah, you may be thinking, perhaps this story shows that the lawsuit is already having a beneficial impact on creating better opportunities for women at Wal-Mart. Perhaps.
You may also be thinking, “C’mon George, just a single anecdote proves nothing.”
Perhaps, but remember, the class action is built on two types of evidence, neither of which proves discriminatory intent: 1) statistics; and 2) anecdotal evidence.
Is it possible that for every negative anecdote relied upon by the plaintiffs there are thousands of positive stories like I just described? Quite possible.
Would disparate impact statistics justify a finding of unlawful sex discrimination in the face of such an imbalance in the anecdotal evidence? How could there be such an imbalance?
Good questions. There could be such an imbalance if the statistical evidence of disparate impact reflects factors other than the denial of equal opportunity to individual deserving candidates. If so, I’d have a real hard time finding anything unlawful.
And, by the way, if I were the judge, I’d say I don’t want to hear one iota of anecdotal evidence in such a case because it’s all irrelevant in view of the vast universe of possible anecdotal evidence (from thousands or even millions of employees) going both ways. So there. Now nominate me for the federal bench ;-)
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Good article. This story sounds familiar. I interviewed with Wal-Mart some time ago. My final interview was with the VP of Staffing.
Upon entering her office, it was obvious that I’d seen her somewhere. As we talked, we realized that we’d seen each other hundreds of times at the Wal-Mart I shopped at for several years in my home-town (she was the store manager at the time.
She told me her story of how her husband left her shortly after she had her first child. In her late teens, she got a job as a part-time cashier with Wal-Mart. Sticking with the company, she eventually became store manager, and then, finally, Vice-President of Staffing at the corporate HQ in Bentonville, AR.
She was a wonderful person and had a terrific perspective on hiring. Although I chose not to make the transition to Wal-Mart, I gained much respect for the person leading their Staffing efforts.
By the way, I heard that she retired about 6 months ago - and is living a very comfortable life (not bad for being in her early-50’s):)