Community Corner

Local Female Wal-Mart Workers Give Their Boss Thumbs Up

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously threw out a lawsuit Monday filed by more than a million women who worked at Wal-Mart, alleging discrimination.

Rozeta Hysolls knows a thing or two about oppression. The East Haven woman, a Wal-Mart employee, grew up in communist Albania where she said she was not allowed to go to college, buy a TV or even eat the vegetables she used to pick as a worker on a government farm.

So when she was asked to comment about the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision Monday to dismiss a suit, Wal-Mart v Dukes, in which scores of women alleged they were paid less and promoted less often than their male counterparts, Hysolls didn't blink. In fact, she and other women who work at the New Haven Wal-Mart, which straddles East Haven on Route 80, said they knew nothing about the case. And all said their corporate employer treats them well and as far as they know, as well as the men.

"I used to work in Burger King, Pathmark and they only gave me $7 [an hour]," Hysolls said, standing in an auto parts aisle at work today. "Wal-Mart treats me OK." She said she earns $10.40 an hour as a sales associate and has been working at the New Haven Wal-Mart since February; before that, at one in New Jersey for four years.

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Cashier Shirley Hamptoe, also unaware of the Supreme Court ruling, said she's been quite content as a Wal-Mart cashier for the last four months.

"Everybody nice to me. Everybody very friendly," said Hamptoe, who lives in New Haven with one of her children. She said the $8.40 per hour she's paid along with another unnamed source of income supports them both.

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Hamptoe said she doesn't know if the men in her store get paid more. She's just glad she has the job.

"I enjoy my job. It's not boring because I'm all over the place," said Hamptoe, and then scurried off to find a motorized cart for a shopper.

Disturbed by the highest court's decision and vowing to strike back, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) issued this written statement:

“Today’s ruling is yet another bad decision from the Supreme Court for women, and I am very disappointed. It is a blow not only to the employees who filed this lawsuit, and have been fighting for equal pay for over 10 years, but to the millions of women across the country facing workplace discrimination every day. This decision is about fairness, about the world’s largest private employer paying over a million women less than their male counterparts — and while it is certainly a setback, we will continue fighting."

Another New Haven Wal-Mart cashier named Billie (who declined to give a last name) said she gets paid the same as the men. "It's fine for me," she said.

In fact, Hysolls said her experience with her corporate employer has run counter to the claims made by the million or so women. She said she's been offered promotions, such as department manager, but has turned them down.

"I said no because my English is not so good and I didn't feel comfortable," said Hysolls, who said she studied English for two years after immigrating to the United States in 2002. "I was surprised they offered" the promotions.

But, said Hysolls, she was only surprised because of her perceived language barrier, not because she's a woman.


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