Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

Trying to show that their smiley face isn’t really just a facade for a huge, soulless, money-grubbing multinational corporation, Wal-Mart has decided to stop pursuing its case against a former employee who suffered severe brain injury in an accident with a semi truck. The woman, whose story has become famous, received a million-dollar award in a lawsuit against the trucking company after two years of legal wrangling. After fees and two years of expenses were paid, about $417,000 was left in the woman’s trust for her future care.

However, at this point, Wal-Mart decided to sue the woman for the $470,000 its health care insurance had already paid for her care. The retail giant’s insurance policy has a clause that allows the company to get any money received by policyholders as a result of a lawsuit. The courts decided that the company was within its contractual rights to sue, but awarded it only the amount of money that was left in the woman’s trust for her care.

Once this story was reported, however, the resulting outcry caused the retail giant decided to back off, and Wal-Mart now claims that its health care policy allows for "greater discretion" in individual cases. However, the truth is that Wal-Mart could always have shown discretion in not pursuing this case. It seems that in these modern days, discretion is no longer the better part of valor, and only vigilance serves. As long as its actions went unseen, Wal-Mart was prepared to take away the last penny of a former employee crippled in an accident.

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury, it is unlikely that any corporation, whether your employer, your insurer, or the trucking company that caused the accident, will give you anything that you do not force them to yield. You need a strong advocate on your side. Contact the law firm of Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation.