Wal-Mart ISO Corporate Rubber Stamps

Heirs of the Wal-Mart fortune have given at least $6,000 to Mike Gableman’€™s campaign for Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Who knows how many countless dollars they may have given to the right wing front groups like WMC to churn out sleazy ads? So why would out of state fat cats from the world’€™s largest corporation take time to try and influence our high court? Sure, it could be because Gableman handed down rulings in a local Wal-Mart case that eventually helped them expand despite a lawsuit from local activists. But chances are they are investing in Gableman because they want a reliable rubber stamp should a case involving them ever reach the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.

Wal-Mart finds itself in court on a regular basis. CNN recently reported on the tragic case of a former Wal-Mart worker who had a terrible car accident that left her brain damaged. She was enrolled in Wal-Mart’€™s health plan and they paid out about $470,000 for her medical expenses. The former employee won a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the accident and received $470,000 after legal expenses. When they found out about the award, Wal-Mart sued the brain damaged women to recoup their money, pointing to the fine print in her medical coverage. Although the family appealed the decision they ended up losing all of the money to the world’€™s largest corporation. The story goes on to only get much worse and more tragic.

It seems clear that too many large corporations, like Wal-Mart, know exactly how to work the court system and they don’€™t want to leave anything to chance. The more corporate rubber stamps the better, must be their rallying cry. Sadly this comes at the expense of everyone else, and in this case even a brain damaged women just trying to survive.