A California jury on Friday awarded $34.7 million to a former Walmart driver, Jesus “Jesse” Fonseca, who had sued the retail giant for defamation and wrongful termination after an on-the-job injury.
Fonseca, a Walmart employee for close to 14 years, was slightly injured in 2017 when a semi-truck crashed into his vehicle from behind on a freeway, greatly damaging the latter. He was sent home on medical leave. Doctors instructed him not to operate large trucks and also not to bend and stoop.
He revealed that he intended to take pre-planned family vacations such as RV driving and a cruise. Walmart did not bring him up on this during this time but later hired private investigators to follow him. There was surveillance footage with Fonseca driving his RV, and Walmart decided to call the integrity policy into question, even though Fonseca explained that he was only limited by his medical conditions regarding work.
In March 2018, Fonseca said Walmart fired him for “gross misconduct”, which he claims had ended his career. In March 2019, Fonseca filed a wrongful termination lawsuit alleging defamation and wrongful termination among other violations.
The jury sided with Fonseca, awarding him $9.7 million for future losses and $25 million in punitive damages. His attorneys argued that Walmart sought to cut workers’ compensation costs by defaming injured employees to coerce them back to work or justify their termination.
Ribeiro Fonseca, at one time feted in promotional materials as “the face of Walmart,” said he was relieved by the jury’s verdict. His attorney, David M. deRubertis, said, “This sends a clear message that corporations must treat injured employees with dignity and honesty.”
Walmart said the verdict was “outrageous” and vowed to appeal. The case underscores increasing scrutiny of corporate practices in handling workers’ compensation and employee rights.
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