West African Immigrants Claim Wal-Mart Fired Them to Give Jobs to Local Residents

Wal-Mart sued by 10 West African men for discrimination, after men claim jobs were given to local residents in Avon, Co.

A small group of 10 West African men who worked in a Avon, Colo., Wal-Mart store, have filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusing the discount retailer of discrimination. They claim they were fired because supervisors wanted to give their jobs to local people in need of jobs.

In the complaint, the men told the EEOC they had all worked for Wal-Mart for a few years, mostly without incident, at a variety of jobs at three stores in Avon, Glenwood Springs and Rifle. According to the NY Times, things changed in 2008 and 2009, when new managers took over the stores, as cited in the complaints, as well as interviews here with four of the men, who continue to gather weekly at a cramped apartment and talk of their hopes of getting new jobs.

In January 2009, six complainants said, according to the NY Times, a new manager at the Avon store called a meeting of workers — virtually all West African — and said: “I don’t like some of the faces I see here. There are people in Eagle County who need jobs.”

To read the entire article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/us/09walmart.html