Hey everybody,
We've been discussing the role of business in society for the last little while - Remember when we talked about The Great Depression and how overproduction and stock-trading was a part of the crash?
Well, business still plays a role in society today, especially in the form of corporations. We talked about Debbie Shank in class today, and for those of you who weren't able to attend class, I'll include a bit of a review.
- Debbie Shank is 52 years old. She has no short-term memory, and lives in a nursing home, limited to a wheelchair.
- This is because Ms. Shank was the victim of a traffic collision with a semi-truck. She sued the company responsible for $1,000,000, and after paying legal fees, she and her husband Jim were left with $417,000 to care for her needs for the rest of her life, which was placed in a trust fund.
- Debbie signed a contract for a health plan 8 years ago with her former employer, Wal-Mart. Because of the nature and extent of her injuries, Wal-Mart contributed $470,000 towards Debbie's medical costs.
- Because she won her court case, however, Wal-Mart sued the Shanks to get back the $470,000 they are owed.
There is a section of the contract that says that if the victim wins a lawsuit for damages for their physical conditions, Wal-Mart is entitled to part or all of that sum, depending on how much the company spends on its employees.
- Wal-Mart has sued the Shanks for $470,000, even though the trust fund to care for Debbie is currently sitting at $417,000. Jim, Debbie's husband, has had to divorce her so that she can get more money from Medicare (Which is a government-subsidized healthcare program in the US), as the money in the trust fund is not currently available to them.
- Thus far, Wal-Mart has won the initial court case and both subsequent appeals (A judge's verdict can often be overturned if people involved in the case ask another court, sometimes the Supreme Court, to consider the case. This is called an 'appeal'), and the Supreme Court, the highest authority in the United States, has refused to hear the Shanks' case.
My question to you now is, do you think that Wal-Mart should take money from the Shanks'?
