A former Walmart truck driver who claimed the corporation defamed him by claiming he broke company integrity guidelines by driving an RV on a family vacation while on medical leave was awarded $34.7 million in damages by a California jury.
Jesus Jesse Fonesca was awarded $9.7 million in compensatory damages and an additional $25 million in punitive damages by the San Bernardino jury on Tuesday following a trial.
Fonesca filed a lawsuit against Walmart in 2019 after 14 years of employment as a truck driver. In his lawsuit, Fonesca stated that he had been a model employee and had even been in a national Walmart TV campaign. According to Fonesca, he was a leader in his department, won various accolades throughout his tenure, and participated in several hiring and safety committees.
The complaint further stated that the Plaintiff mentored and taught about 12 drivers. Additionally, Plaintiff’s work ethic earned him a great deal of respect and admiration.
However, while operating a truck for Walmart in 2017, Fonesca was rear-ended in a car accident. As was customary for his job with Walmart, Fonesca was placed on workers’ compensation leave and instructed not to operate the 18-wheeler for 10–14 hours per day.
According to Fonseca, he told his case manager that he was taking his family on an RV camping trip a few weeks after his accident while he was on medical leave. A few months later, he took his wife on a cruise. Fonesca’s claim was examined by Walmart’s third-party workers’ compensation administrators, who also recorded him operating the RV.
Later, Fonseca’s attorneys told investigators that Fonesca had always been upfront with Walmart about his intentions and that he thought he was medically prohibited from operating commercial vehicles rather than recreational ones. They also clarified that the medical restrictions only applied to work and not to time spent with family and friends.
Walmart’s ethics department ultimately determined that Fonesca had been dishonest and fired him for egregious misconduct and integrity violations under Walmart’s code of ethics, but investigators decided not to pursue the case further.
According to Fonesca’s complaint, the plaintiff’s supervisor still finds it hard to believe that he was fired for being such a model employee. He claimed that the plaintiff went from being a leader to a fraud for the company he dedicated 14 years of his life to because he was hurt and required accommodations.
Fonesca brought several allegations against his former employer, including intentional infliction of emotional distress, slander, and violations of state and federal antidiscrimination and employment statutes. Following a trial jury’s decision, the defamation claim was the sole subject of the associated damages.
In an emailed comment to Law&Crime on Thursday, Walmart stated that this ridiculous verdict “just does not reflect the straightforward and uncontested facts of this case.” As a result, we shall seek every remedy at our disposal.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by Fonesca’s attorney.
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