No Dollars for Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree ruling smacks of injustice
By Kelvin Wade | | December 04, 2008 23:16
The 2006 murder of Taneka Talley at the North Texas Dollar Tree store was a brutal, shocking crime. It was also brutally shocking to find out that Dollar Tree stores' insurer is denying death benefits to Talley's 11-year-old son because the alleged killer said in a psychiatric report that he killed Talley because she was black.
While I'm familiar with racial profiling and its various incarnations such as DWB (driving while black), I must confess I didn't know there was a category Dollar Tree apparently recognized as WWB (working while black).
According to California workers compensation law, a claim can be denied if victim and killer have/had a personal relationship. Apparently, Dollar Tree's insurers see the suspect's alleged hatred of black people as creating a personal relationship between he and Talley and are thus denying the claim.
Talley was, by all published accounts, a good worker for Dollar Tree. And I don't know why she was killed. The guilt or innocence of the suspect in this case will be determined in a court of law next week. But I do know that if she wasn't working at Dollar Tree that morning, she would not have
been killed.
Edgar Romano, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Workers Injury Law and Advocacy Group, told ABC News in a report last month that, 'It's a completely implausible reason to deny benefits.'
There's a trust issue here. When we go to work for a company, we do so with the knowledge that if something were to happen, if we are injured, that we will be compensated. Or, heaven forbid, we lose our life on the job, that our children will receive a death benefit.
In this case, Talley's 11-year-old son would use those funds to help him attend college. But that trust has been violated.
It's a shame that it's come to this with Dollar Tree and its insurer.
As consumers cut back during this recession, it's actually been good for Dollar Tree Inc. Consumers' pain is its gain, it seems. The company ranks as one of Forbes' 400 Best Big Companies of 2008. Its second quarter saw profits up 15 percentand its third quarter profits were up 20 percent. During the third quarter, its same-store sales were up 6.2 percent, something that even Wal-Mart can't match.
I don't begrudge Dollar Tree that success. They were well-positioned in this economic downturn to capitalize and provide consumers products at a great price point. It has seen plenty of my money through the years.
But the company won't see any more of my dollars until this situation is rectified. Obviously others feel likewise as a group of concerned citizens protested outside the Fairfield store last Sunday. There are calls for boycotting Dollar Tree online.
With the economy in decline, I know low-income people can't afford to boycott Dollar Tree. Anyway, the point isn't to hurt Dollar Tree but to get it to do the right thing, much like Wal-Mart was encouraged to do when its insurer was suing a brain-damaged employee trying to recoup a settlement from a trucking accident earlier this year.
We just want to see justice for the Talley family. You can let the executives at Dollar Tree know what you think by calling (757) 321-5000. Peace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Slave to your DVR? Read the Wading In Blog.
While I'm familiar with racial profiling and its various incarnations such as DWB (driving while black), I must confess I didn't know there was a category Dollar Tree apparently recognized as WWB (working while black).
According to California workers compensation law, a claim can be denied if victim and killer have/had a personal relationship. Apparently, Dollar Tree's insurers see the suspect's alleged hatred of black people as creating a personal relationship between he and Talley and are thus denying the claim.
Talley was, by all published accounts, a good worker for Dollar Tree. And I don't know why she was killed. The guilt or innocence of the suspect in this case will be determined in a court of law next week. But I do know that if she wasn't working at Dollar Tree that morning, she would not have
been killed.
Edgar Romano, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Workers Injury Law and Advocacy Group, told ABC News in a report last month that, 'It's a completely implausible reason to deny benefits.'
There's a trust issue here. When we go to work for a company, we do so with the knowledge that if something were to happen, if we are injured, that we will be compensated. Or, heaven forbid, we lose our life on the job, that our children will receive a death benefit.
In this case, Talley's 11-year-old son would use those funds to help him attend college. But that trust has been violated.
It's a shame that it's come to this with Dollar Tree and its insurer.
As consumers cut back during this recession, it's actually been good for Dollar Tree Inc. Consumers' pain is its gain, it seems. The company ranks as one of Forbes' 400 Best Big Companies of 2008. Its second quarter saw profits up 15 percentand its third quarter profits were up 20 percent. During the third quarter, its same-store sales were up 6.2 percent, something that even Wal-Mart can't match.
I don't begrudge Dollar Tree that success. They were well-positioned in this economic downturn to capitalize and provide consumers products at a great price point. It has seen plenty of my money through the years.
But the company won't see any more of my dollars until this situation is rectified. Obviously others feel likewise as a group of concerned citizens protested outside the Fairfield store last Sunday. There are calls for boycotting Dollar Tree online.
With the economy in decline, I know low-income people can't afford to boycott Dollar Tree. Anyway, the point isn't to hurt Dollar Tree but to get it to do the right thing, much like Wal-Mart was encouraged to do when its insurer was suing a brain-damaged employee trying to recoup a settlement from a trucking accident earlier this year.
We just want to see justice for the Talley family. You can let the executives at Dollar Tree know what you think by calling (757) 321-5000. Peace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Slave to your DVR? Read the Wading In Blog.
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