Lewis M. Blanton
| Father | Unknown |
| Mother | Unknown |
Walmart Sues Former Employee That Was Brain-damaged In Car Wreck
Ended 2008-04-02
In 2000 Deborah Shank was brain damaged and severely disabled after her car was hit by a tractor trailer. Due to the brain damage she was unable to use her right arm, or move most of the fingers on her left hand therefor making her unable to feed or dress herself. Her short term memory was gone, and was only able to speak in short simple sentences.
Mrs. Shank was a Walmart employee and was enrolled in the companies health insurance plan which promptly paid for a portion of the medical expenses after the accident.
The Shanks sued the trucking firm that hit the couples car and in 2002 Mrs Shank was awarded 700,000 dollars in damages. After court costs she was left with 417,000 dollars.
In 2005 Walmart sues Mrs. Shank for $469,000 which is even more than what they ended up with after suing the trucking firm.
The Shanks attorney tried to negotiate with the number one retailer in the world but Walmart - despite the fact that Mrs. Shank’s medical bills would be on going for the remainder of her life the retail giant was dead set on suing the couple for the full amount.
The Walmart spokes woman Sharon Weber stated that even though they were fully aware of the “tragic situation” of the Shanks they did not care because the company has “an obligation to participants to be impartial”.
In August of 2007 judge Lewis Blanton ordered the Shanks to pay Walmart the money that was left over from the law suit which was $275,000. This financially destroyed the family. Mr. Shank ended up divorcing his wife so she could get financial aid for her health care.
Also six days after the verdict the Shank’s middle son was killed in the Iraq war. Due to Mrs. Shank’s brain damage she knows that something happened to her son, but she cannot remember.
The verdict was appealed to the U.S Supreme Court which declined to look at the case. At this point CNN broke the story giving Walmart lots of unwanted bad press, and forced the retail giant to admit it’s wrong doing and apologize to the family - giving back the money.
Mrs. Shank was a Walmart employee and was enrolled in the companies health insurance plan which promptly paid for a portion of the medical expenses after the accident.
The Shanks sued the trucking firm that hit the couples car and in 2002 Mrs Shank was awarded 700,000 dollars in damages. After court costs she was left with 417,000 dollars.
In 2005 Walmart sues Mrs. Shank for $469,000 which is even more than what they ended up with after suing the trucking firm.
The Shanks attorney tried to negotiate with the number one retailer in the world but Walmart - despite the fact that Mrs. Shank’s medical bills would be on going for the remainder of her life the retail giant was dead set on suing the couple for the full amount.
The Walmart spokes woman Sharon Weber stated that even though they were fully aware of the “tragic situation” of the Shanks they did not care because the company has “an obligation to participants to be impartial”.
In August of 2007 judge Lewis Blanton ordered the Shanks to pay Walmart the money that was left over from the law suit which was $275,000. This financially destroyed the family. Mr. Shank ended up divorcing his wife so she could get financial aid for her health care.
Also six days after the verdict the Shank’s middle son was killed in the Iraq war. Due to Mrs. Shank’s brain damage she knows that something happened to her son, but she cannot remember.
The verdict was appealed to the U.S Supreme Court which declined to look at the case. At this point CNN broke the story giving Walmart lots of unwanted bad press, and forced the retail giant to admit it’s wrong doing and apologize to the family - giving back the money.