To Whom It May Concern,

In High School I remember saying “God Bless Sam Walton.” His ability to create a wor
k place in which the people mattered more than the figures seemed ideal. He was
able to create a store in which the employees and the customers received the res
pect that all human beings are entitled to. After hearing his important values o
n which Wal-Mart was based, namely respect, I decided that this would be an opti
mal place for me to work. However I regret to inform you that this is not what I
found after I began working for Wal-Mart. All ideas of respect and great custom
er service left me. Therefore, I, Catherine Poole, will be terminating my employ
ment in two weeks, on December 14th, due to the ill management of the Customer S
ervice Managers (CSMs) and the Front End manager. Some examples of horrendous ma
naging include: November third at 7:30AM a CSM was shopping on the clock; CSM Ki
m L. conducted a spot check on my register while I was away on break, when I ret
urned and found her in my register drawer she stated that she was hoping to be f
inished before my return to the register. CSMs routinely gossip at a single podi
um without concern for the cashiers on the unattended side, this inhibits proper
customer service. CSMs also take an extraordinary amount of time when respondin
g to a blinking light, this hinders prompt customer service as well. I have been
made to wait a total of fifteen minutes for a CSM to respond. Another cashier i
nformed me of her ten minute wait for a CSM response. CSMs also routinely ask ca
shiers to conduct price checks, while the CSMs are perfectly capable of completi
ng this aspect of their job, this also hinders prompt customer check out. Kelley
has therefore failed in maintaining the front end in her lack of attendance and
proper guidance allowing her front end attendants to fail to act in a professio
nal manner. I have also been witness to a manager accepting a check with imprope
r ID; a teenager forged her mom’s name on a check and presented it to me. I inform
ed her of Wal-Mart’s policy and refused the check. The salaried manager who respon
ded to the page then accepted the check. If cashiers are undermined then custome
rs will not believe that we are in fact following a Wal-Mart policy. The manager
added insult to this when he waited until the customer left to tell me that I d
id the right thing in refusing the check since we are not supposed to accept the
m. In addition to these, I was placed back on a register without a medical relea
se form from my doctor following my car accident. The last doctor’s note on file n
otifies the management that I am restricted to lifting no more than one pound. A
s a result of my cashiering my doctor has commented that my working prevents pro
mpt healing of my back. Another violation of doctor’s orders occurred with a door
greeter. His doctor stated that he should sit down for two and a half months. Ho
wever, Mr. Curtis is always seen standing up and Wal-Mart management has done no
thing to comply with his doctor’s orders. The most recent event occurred the week
prior to and on November 30th. When the schedule was posted for Thanksgiving wee
k I informed Kelley that I had been scheduled outside of my availability. She th
en informed me that she did not look at availability because it was the day afte
r Thanksgiving sale. Simply because it is the day after Thanksgiving does not ex
empt availability. She seems to believe that it does. When I told her that I wou
ld be unable to get to work at the scheduled time she assumed the attitude that
I was just being difficult and that it should be no big deal for me to get to wo
rk at the time she had assigned. On November 30th I was informed that I had been
written up because of my calling in the day prior. I was informed that it was a
n important day, however I was not informed that such action would be taken. I w
as told that though it was impossible for me to return to town any sooner that I
should have called when I returned to town. However, this was not explained to
me until I was being written up. It seems that this action was assumed to be in
my understanding. It was not. I had planned on heading into town on Thanksgiving
and was unable to due to the unforeseen car trouble. All shops were closed when
the problem was discovered, since it was Thanksgiving, and repairs could not be
made until Friday. I called into work and spoke with CSM Linda, she told me tha
t Kelley had told her to take the call. After I explained the problem all that s
he said was “okay.” I don not think it fair nor just to hold me accountable for an e
vent beyond my control. The ruling by generalities rather than by individual see
ms to be a common theme with those who wield any power at Wal-Mart. I don not us
e the open door policy because time and again the management has shown willingne
ss to hear but not to listen. Employees are treated like fodder and receive no r
espect for being the legs on which this company stands. We are treated less like
people and more like a means by which wealth is gained for the company. Managem
ent seems content in overworking the few employees they do have, as we are under
staffed, and show no concern for employees including those who maintain a second
job and a family. In addition, I have found that the friendly faces who welcome
customers are being made to suffer. When the cold weather began to settle in th
e store manager denied a heater to the Garden Center door greeter. Only after em
ployees took it upon themselves to place a heater out there did the greeters fin
ally find some degree of warmth. The store manager, Jason Raux, was aware of the
low temperatures. This shows an unconcern for the health of the employees, as m
any of the door greeters are older and therefore have thinner blood and skin all
owing them to be more susceptible to the cold and the store in that this is abus
ing the employees who provide the first impression of our store in the eyes of t
he customers. This mistreatment of the door greeters continues. On the evening o
f December 1st a door greeter finally decided to close the doors after they had
been opened for two and a half weeks, exposing the greeters and customers to the
frigid weather. After the store manager complained about the unaesthetic appeal
of the hand written sign that had been placed on the door, the doors were once
again opened, without being fixed. This shows both an unconcern for the door gre
eters and a lack of action on the part of the management in repairing the store.
Such an example of delay in repairs could have also been seen when the store fi
rst opened. For the first two weeks I was employed by “Wal-Art.” The fact that the s
tore sign lights were out was reported to management by customers and employees
alike, only to receive the affirmation that management was aware of the problem.
I have spoken with many employees to get their side of what I have presented he
re and we have all reached the conclusion that Wal-Mart does not respect its emp
loyees as I had originally thought. They are frightened to use the open door pol
icy because management of store ..1229 does not seem open to listening, but rath
er they seem content on ruling by fear. This works in only making employees grit
their teeth and continue their service to Wal-Mart and its customers. In conclu
sion, the managers have a general attitude, at Wal-Mart store ..1229, that emplo
yees are no more than sheep to be shifted around from department to department,
thereby neglecting those areas to which we were originally assigned. Lack of mor
al that set in shortly after we moved to the super center seems to be store wide
and growing. They attempt to rule by fear rather then communication with their
employees and fail to create an atmosphere in which employees feel like valuable
people. For these reasons my last day will be December 14th.