The Walgreen Company, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, discriminated against thousands of black employees across the country, including managers and pharmacists, according to a class-action lawsuit filed yesterday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The agency’s action comes after a lawsuit filed in 2005 against Walgreen by several current and former black employees who said the company made store assignments based on race and gave the plaintiffs jobs in either predominantly black neighborhoods or less-desirable ones.
I gotta admit this one took me by surprise. Overt discrimination by a business against black folk is so tailfin-on-the-Cadillac Wally Beaver Eisenhower era stuff. On the other hand, short of an actual lynching, I cannot imagine what a corporation would have to do in order to have a Bush The Lessor era regulatory agency actually take action against it. I decided to investigate.
My attempt to contact Walgreens for comment resulted in me being placed on hold for approximately 45 minutes, with someone picking up the phone periodically to immediately place me back on hold. It was just like calling one of their stores on the doctor line, minus the irritating John Mayer music in the background. Giving up efforts to contact the company, I talked to fictitious retail analyst Simon Jong instead. "I think this lawsuit is the result of poor communication" Jong said. "If Walgreens employees in the inner city would only spend some time talking to their colleagues in the more affluent parts of town, they would soon realize that the company treats everyone like shit. Employees, vendors, and customers alike."
"It's basically a company that holds pretty much all people in contempt." Added Jong in the conversation that took place only in my mind.
He then went on to say that unlike companies that try to build their business on superior customer service and respect for the people who provide their revenue, Walgreens has become the nation's leading drugstore chain by taking advantage of two qualities found in nearly every member of the general public it hates so much; laziness and cluelessness.
"Walgreens was the first company to realize it didn't matter if you made people wait two hours for their prescription as long as you didn't ask them to get out of their car." Jong said in my imagination. "And with their automatic fill service, they discovered that they could basically call people at random to order them to come into the store to pick up a prescription that they had no idea they had asked to be filled."
"Don't underestimate the profit potential of phone calls asking people to buy Vicodin" emphasized Jong.
He concluded the conversation in my head by saying that if the case went to trial, he fully expected that while any jury would probably agree that Walgreens had acted to the detriment of the community, they would nonetheless vote to acquit the company, as that would be the more convenient course of action. "Today's consumer, and today's jury, value convenience above all else, and any business that forgets that does so at it's own peril"
11 comments:
I am offended by this entire post, if for no other reason than to discover that somewhere there is a Walgreen's playing John Meyer, which could only be an upgrade from the crap they force me to listen to...
They treat everyone like shit... I've worked there for nearly 2 years and I might be fired for not wanting to play nice with the dumbass pharmacist they hired (who was FIRED from Shopko... gee I wonder...)
Walgreens definitely assigns pharmacists and managers to stores according to race. They try to find a correlation between the race of the employee being placed and the clientele of the store. Its in effort to make more in common with the patient and the pharmacist thats telling him his meds aren't covered. It leads to less racial slurs being spouted in the transaction.
I don't think Walgreens should be punished for this, it makes sense.
By the way... my Walgreens plays Pink Floyd.
Oh so many truths here! I worked the first drive-thru "test site" store for Walgreens in an affluent neighborhood; my clientelle ranging from pro football and hockey players to Norman Schwarzkopf. I was removed from a ghetto store (place me back there any day) to the new test site due to my white girl ass being discriminated against in the ghetto by a "few" black racists who wanted a black pharmacist!
My Walgreens plays a daily "suicide mix" of music that would force me my staff and the client waiting for his/her Prozac to go jump off the nearest bridge!
The latest "Wallyworld" newsletter states that the current music selection in each store is should I say "culturally inviting".
Gatorgal R.Ph.
"Walgreens definitely assigns pharmacists and managers to stores according to race."
If there is the slightest bit of evidence a lawyer can get a hold of that shows this is a company policy, then there is a large settlement check if Walgreen's future. You simply cannot, nor should you be allowed to, give someone an assignment, especially what would be considered a less desirable assignment, based solely on their race.
I understand your point about finding a correlation between employee and clientele. There is a way a mature company handles this though. It's called honesty. If no one wants to work in your store in the ghetto, you have a face to face with your employee and explain that you think it would help your operation if they took an assignment at this particular location. Make it worth their while with some extra in the paycheck and the expectation that if they do a good job, they will be the first ones looked at when an opportunity for promotion comes up. That's how a mature company handles it. I used to take a vacation every year with the extra bank I got for putting up with the white trash, and I have also cashed in at points in my career by working in the ghetto. You can give the extra money to your employees or to the lawyers, but it looks as if Walgreens is about to find out it costs you extra one way or another to do business in places people don't want to work.
Once while in the ghetto I was working with another pharmacist from Ethiopia, he was very much a member of the third world elite, suave, articulate, and cultured in that not-from-here kind of way.
One of the "your meds aren't covered" transactions ended up with the customer saying "I'll come back when there's a REAL black man here!" I thought to myself ummmm.....you're a cream in the coffee African-American, he's a total African-African......who exactly is the real black man?"
I miss the ghetto.....
I really like the voices swirling around in your head. They are smarter than a lot of voices we hear in the real world. They are funny, too.
MJ
This post is obviously done by someone with a one-sided view on the case. They have a jaded perspective of Walgreens. They also have no understanding that a company is as good as the people. If the people are crap and management teaches those people crap then you are left with crap! There are a larger percent of employees that are amazing at Walgreens. Every business no matter how large it is has a few people that might be viewed as anything far from an asset. I'm sure the writer of this called Enron and got right through on the phone too!! Silly fool!
As a nine year vet of Walgreens, I've worked in many lovely and varied areas of the country...and from redneck to ghetto, people suck. I don't care how much or little money they have...they suck. White, black, red, yellow, brown or combination...they suck. Hard core. So I fail to see how any one assignment can be better or worse than another. Corporate pharmacy is soul-sucking, I-hate-my-life, I'm-only-here-for-the-retirement kind of work. Music however, is another story...I feel Walgreens is trying to break my spirit by playing Olivia Newton-John on the half hour. It makes me want to stick sporks in people's eyes.
I have always refused to worship at the altar of Walgreens, and I can respect your point of view. I have one beef...dude, nobody waits that long on hold at my place.
Best line:
"Walgreens was the first company to realize it didn't matter if you made people wait two hours for their prescription as long as you didn't ask them to get out of their car."
You slay me, DM.
Hey drugmonkey- the lawyers did prove the assignments- well enough to get Walgreens to settle! I've worked in two types of stores. The problem isn't "ghetto" or "non-ghetto" stores, it's low-high profit stores vs. high loss-low profit stores. The Black managers typically get the latter regardless of the location of the store.
And, YES... the music sucks! Especially during breast cancer awareness month with Oliva Newton John, her terrible song and the commercials for her CD, which clearanced out of most stores!
Although Walgreens sucks on diversity with employees and in the community (check the prices in various stores- they jack them up in the poorer neighborhoods- I know because I was responsible for changing the prices) they do encourage very good face to face customer service. The slack comes in with the high turn around due to horrible hours, horrible management, and subpar pay. I hope the suit and settlement actions bring about change to Walgreens and other retailers that suffer the same ignorance.
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