Law

The Wendy Bell case is all over a comic book series called “Astro Boy”. Recently the city of Waco, Texas has sued the author Top Shelf Productions over the name of an unreleased DVD called “Wendy’s Biggest Loser”. In the cartoon series the main character is a man who has been transformed into a fat, overweight, child like walking mess due to a weight loss surgery.

Since the character was named the show has become quite popular among children. The character appears in the episode “Astro Boy III: The Search for Wanda”. It was noted during a recent episode that the character had gained an extra twenty pounds of weight due to a weight loss surgery.

Wendy Bell Lawsuit

There have been several similar lawsuits between Wendy Bell and her former employer, Wal-Mart. Her lawsuit against the company and her former direct manager is currently pending in a federal court in Waco. Ms. Bell is accusing the corporation of engaging in a pattern of unlawful employment practices including race discrimination, retaliation, and defamation. Ms. Bell is also accusing the company of engaging in a pattern of unlawful racial conduct, creating a dangerous and hostile work environment, and repeatedly failing to train its employees.

Last week Ms. Bell’s lawsuit reached a turning point when a federal judge ordered the company to produce audio and video deposition transcripts from a deposition that took place in January.

During this deposition the company’s former human resources director placed Ms. Bell in an emotional state of stress because of her losing a job. During the deposition the human resources director for the company denied knowing of any investigation of Ms. Bell. Eventually Ms.

Bell was fired after the testimony and audio recordings were discovered by the litigation firm of Pepper and Stone. The court found that the company engaged in a pattern or policy of unlawful discrimination, including harassment, based on her gender, race, ethnicity, and religion, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This revelation comes as no surprise to me.

It’s very easy for people who work for big corporate companies like AT&T, Verizon, or Wal-Mart to abuse their power and place women in emotionally compromising situations. Recently a news anchor was fired for bringing up the fact that a major company had changed its mind and was moving its headquarters to Texas because of the fact that there was a lot of lower-paid workers in the state.

This was not an isolated incident. Over the last several years we have seen countless examples of corporate greed destroying trust in government agencies, media outlets, and our tax base.

It appears that Wendy Bell is a victim of racial discrimination and retaliation, as she has been the target of threats and intimidation since she filed her lawsuit.

In addition to the threats she received via phone calls and emails, the company that she worked for also placed her on the paid employment chopping block in what appears to be a planned move against her. When she voiced her opinion that Walmart did not have a right to fire her, the company apparently felt it was a threat to its bottom line.

Instead of dealing with the issue, which was not about workplace issues, Wendy Bell was reportedly “outed” by her direct manager and threatened with being terminated herself. At the very least, this story goes to show that you can’t protect your journalistic standards when working for a large Corporation with deep pockets.

The bottom line is that Wendy Bell is owed back pay for her wrongful termination at Walmart, and it is her right as an African-American woman.

Even though she may not have been targeted due to her gender, African-Americans often endure similar treatment at the hands of big business. If you feel you have been wrongfully fired or discriminated against in the workplace, you should not waste any more time sitting back and hoping that things improve.

The clock is ticking, and if you wait too long, you risk losing your job and losing your financial future. So while this lawsuit may not be about her job performance, it may very well be about the impact of affirmative action, as it deals with one of the closest pieces to a modern-day Jim Crow-era system of racial discrimination.

By Ricky

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