Pleading



|BRAD SELIGMAN (SBN 083838) |JOSEPH SELLERS |

|JOCELYN D. LARKIN (SBN 110817) |CHRISTINE WEBBER |

|THE IMPACT FUND |CHARLES TOMPKINS |

|125 University Avenue |JULIE GOLDSMITH |

|Berkeley, CA 94710 |COHEN, MILSTEIN, HAUSFELD & TOLL |

|Telephone: (510) 845-3473 |West Tower – Suite 500 |

|Facsimile: (510) 845-3654 |1100 New York Avenue |

| |Washington, D.C. 20005-3964 |

| |Telephone: (202) 408-4600 |

| |Facsimile: (202) 408-4699 |

|IRMA D. HERRERA (SBN 98658) |STEPHEN TINKLER |

|DEBRA A. SMITH (SBN 147863) |MERIT BENNETT |

|EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES |TINKLER & BENNETT |

|1663 Mission Street, Suite 250 |309 Johnson Street |

|San Francisco, CA 94103 |Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 |

|Telephone: (415) 621-0672 |Telephone: (505) 986-0269 |

|Facsimile: (415) 621-6744 |Facsimile: (505) 982-6698 |

|SHEILA Y. THOMAS (SBN 161403) |DEBRA GARDNER |

|EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES |PUBLIC JUSTICE CENTER |

|5260 Proctor Avenue |500 East Lexington Street |

|Oakland, CA 94618 |Baltimore, MD 21202 |

|Telephone: (510) 339-3739 |Telephone: (410) 625-9409 |

|Facsimile: (510) 339-3723 |Facsimile: (410) 625-9423 |

|STEVE STEMERMAN (SBN 067690) |SHAUNA MARSHALL (SBN 90641) |

|ELIZABETH LAWRENCE (SBN 111781) |HASTINGS COLLEGE OF THE LAW |

|DAVIS, COWELL & BOWE |200 McAllister Street |

|100 Van Ness Avenue, 20th Floor |San Francisco, CA 94102 |

|San Francisco, CA 94102 |Telephone: (415) 565-4685 |

|Telephone: (415) 626-1880 |Facsimile: (415) 565-4854 |

|Facsimile: (415) 626-2860 | |

| | |

|Attorneys for Plaintiffs | |

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

|BETTY DUKES, PATRICIA SURGESON, CLEO PAGE, CHRISTINE KWAPNOSKI, DEBORAH |Case No. C-01-2252 MJJ |

|GUNTER, KAREN WILLIAMSON AND EDITH ARANA, on behalf of themselves and | |

|all others similarly situated, |DECLARATION OF JENNIFER FURTADO IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR|

| |CLASS CERTIFICATION |

|Plaintiff, | |

|vs. | |

|WAL-MART STORES, INC., | |

|Defendant | |

I, JENNIFER FURTADO, declare:

1. I have personal knowledge of each and every fact set forth in this Declaration, and if called to testify as a witness in this matter, I could and would competently testify to each of these facts.

2. I was employed by Wal-Mart, Inc. from January 4, 1992 through March 5, 1999 at three different stores in New Hampshire and two different stores in New Mexico. I am female.

3. Wal-Mart was my first full-time job after graduating from high school. Although I started out as a cashier, I worked my way up to Department Manager, Support Manager and then into the Management Training Program. I was never promoted to an Assistant Manager position.

4. During my employment with Wal-Mart, I was never disciplined and my performance evaluations were always at least “standard” and most often “above standard” and “outstanding.” On four separate occasions, I received “Great Job” Awards for “exceeding [Wal-Mart’s] expectations above and beyond.” (Attached as Furtado Exhibit A is a true and accurate copy of my January 1999 award.)

5. During the first six years of my employment, I was working mostly full-time while attending university full-time as well. In May 1998, I obtained my Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New Hampshire. At no time did any of the many different Store Managers I worked for inform me about Wal-Mart’s First In Line Program. I later learned that this program allowed junior and seniors who were Wal-Mart associates to train as Company managers as a part of their educational program. Upon graduation, they would be “ first in line” for an Assistant Manager position without having to go through Wal-Mart’s internal Management Training Program.

6. During my first six years at Wal-Mart, I worked at stores in Derry, Somersworth, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I observed that both the operational and personnel policies and practices in each of these stores were the same. In addition to these four stores, I was often sent to other stores that were opening in New Hampshire as part of a “set up” team to ensure that the new stores were operating consistent with Wal-Mart policies and practices. Each store was linked directly to corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas through computers. The computers allowed store management to receive daily recap reports from Bentonville that highlighted any problems areas that needed to be addressed. The Store Manager would review information from these reports with us each morning.

7. After graduation, I requested a transfer to New Mexico where I was employed again in the same Albuquerque store and also in the Belen store. The Belen store operated similarly to each of the other stores I had worked in. The same personnel policies and practices were in effect and it was linked to Bentonville through computers.

8. During the more than seven years I was employed by Wal-Mart, none of the jobs or promotions I attained were posted. Instead, I got the positions by expressing interest in them to a department or assistant manager after learning from other employees or personal observations that someone had quit, been fired or transferred. Sometimes I was pre-selected for promotion without even asking. For example, I was promoted from a stocker position to Department Manager in the Boys Department at the Derry store when Assistant Manager Michelle [last name unknown] asked me if I wanted the job and I accepted. I was promoted from a sales associate position to Department Manager in the Girls Department in the Albuquerque store when Assistant Manager Patty Hudson told me they were splitting that department off from the Infant Department and asked me if I wanted the job.

9. I began to seriously explore a management career with Wal-Mart when I spent my junior year as an exchange student at the University of New Mexico. Although no one ever informed me about the First In Line Program, I knew that Wal-Mart had a Management Training Program from talking with Management Trainees who had been assigned to my stores, both in New Hampshire and New Mexico. While I was working in the Albuquerque store, I told Assistant Manager Patty Hudson that I was interested in the program. I also had several conversations with District Manager Peter Abbott about entering the Management Training Program. He told me that I should apply for it when I finished school. He also indicated to me that he thought I would be able to move through the program rapidly because I had so much experience. At the end of the school year, District Manager Abbott had to approve my request to transfer back to New Hampshire. On the form, he wrote, “This associate is an outstanding person[.] [D]oes a great job. Thanks.” (Attached hereto as Furtado Exhibit B is a true and accurate copy of the Transfer Notice.)

10. When I graduated from the University of New Hampshire in May 1998, I decided to return to New Mexico to join the Management Training Program there. I called my former Store Manager from Albuquerque, Ken Estes, who informed me that Peter Abbott was no longer the District Manager. However, he offered to talk to the new District Manager, Larry Wilcockson, on my behalf. My transfer was approved in June 1998 and several weeks after returning to the Albuquerque store that I had originally worked in, I met with Mr. Wilcockson at his office in the Belen store. We discussed the Management Training Program. Shortly thereafter, in approximately July 1998, I reported to the Belen store to begin the program.

11. One of my co-trainees at the Belen store was Mike Estrada. Mr. Estrada was already in the Management Training Program when I arrived. Mr. Estrada’s training period was very short and he was promoted to an Assistant Manager position in the Belen store while I was still a trainee.

12. Part of my management training included helping the Albuquerque store where I was originally assigned move to a new building and re-open as a Supercenter. Although District Manager Wilcockson had told me initially that I would be responsible for the receiving area of the new Supercenter, I ended up “setting up” the Apparel Department while Assistant Manager Mike Maholic took over the receiving area. By the time the new Albuquerque Supercenter opened, I felt ready for promotion. All I lacked was training in the Receiving Department.

13. At the time it opened, the Albuquerque Supercenter was still in need of one Assistant Manager so I talked to Store Manager Estes about filling that opening after I completed the training program. Mr. Estes, the Set-Up Managers and the other Assistant Managers would joke with me and tell me to take off my “trainee” badge since I was already an Assistant Manager. Finally, I asked District Manager Wilcockson how much longer my training program would take and if he knew what store I would be going to. Mr. Wilcockson named several stores, including Espanola, which was a 3 to 4 hour roundtrip commute from my home.

14. In subsequent discussions with District Manager Wilcockson, I tried to convince him to assign me to the Albuquerque Supercenter. He told me that trainees were not allowed to become Assistant Managers in the same store they trained in. I did not believe this to be true since I was aware that my former co-trainee, Mike Estrada, had trained and been promoted to an Assistant Manager in the same store. Nonetheless, I told Mr. Wilcockson that while I was willing to change stores, my circumstances had changed, that my husband had a job in Albuquerque paying more money than I was making, and that it did not make sense for us to relocate two hours away to Espanola. Mr. Wilcockson was very displeased with my unwillingness to relocate outside of the Albuquerque area.

15. Even though Store Manager Estes told me that he wanted to keep me as an Assistant Manager in the Albuquerque Supercenter, he said that the decision where I would be placed was within the control of the District Manager. At no point in time did he or District Manager Wilcockson inform me about Wal-Mart’s Resident Assistant Manager program. This program allows associates to train for management and promote to an Assistant Manager position in the same store. Eventually, District Manager Wilcockson assigned a male, Robert Phillips, to the open Assistant Manager position in the Albuquerque Supercenter. Mr. Phillips, who had recently been hired from outside the Company and who was not required to complete the Management Training Program, was allowed to promote to an Assistant Manager position within the same store where he was currently working, just as Mike Estrada had been allowed to do.

16. Over the next few months, District Manager Wilcockson continued to be vague regarding when I would be promoted and to where. By now, I had been in management training for approximately sixteen to eighteen weeks. During this same time period, Wal-Mart realigned some of the Albuquerque stores into another district headed by Peter Abbott. I asked Mr. Wilcockson to talk to Mr. Abbott, my former District Manager, to see whether he had any stores I could be assigned to. I was never offered an Assistant Manager position by District Manager Wilcockson or District Manager Abbott.

17. Although there were at least seven other Wal-Mart stores within a reasonable commute from my home, I was not able to determine whether there were any Assistant Manager openings in these stores because Wal-Mart does not post or advertise the Assistant Manager position in any manner. Management trainees are not allowed to “apply” for an Assistant Manager position after they complete the program. Instead, they must wait until the District Manager hand-selects them for placement. District Manager Wilcockson’s refusal to allow me to relocate to another store in the Albuquerque area convinced me that I had no future with Wal-Mart.

18. In November 1998, after I had completed approximately twenty weeks of management training, I finally decided to talk to District Manager Wilcockson about stepping down from the Management Trainee Program. His only response was to tell me that I would lose my salary and GAP [geographic adjustment payment]. This confirmed my understanding that he had no intention of promoting me unless I agreed to relocate to the Espanola store. I subsequently asked Store Manager Estes to find an hourly position for me within his store.

19. After I was in the Management Training Program, I was taking graduate business courses at the University of New Mexico. One class, entitled “Organizational Behaviors and Diversity Awareness,” required me to do a research project on the glass ceiling phenomenon. I decided to research whether gender balance existed in upper management at Wal-Mart. To do this, I reviewed the Company’s lists of Store Managers for each of the forty-one states for which data was available on the computer as well as its lists of District Managers, Regional Managers and Regional Vice Presidents. After printing out these lists, I counted the number of men and women on each list.

20. When I started this project, I thought that women were being held back at Wal-Mart by only one District Manager: Larry Wilcockson. After reviewing the data , however, I realized that the lack of female managers at Wal-Mart was a wide-spread Company problem, and not an isolated event. For instance, I counted only 286 female Store Managers compared to the 1742 male Store Managers, or 14% female. And the numbers were significantly worse the higher up the corporate ladder I investigated. At the Regional Manager level, I counted only two females out of 29, or 7%. I made pie charts to demonstrate the result of my research and gave an oral presentation to my class. (Attached hereto as Furtado Exhibit C are true and accurate copies of some of my data, pie charts and oral presentation for the glass ceiling project.) This research, combined with my own experience of being unable to advance at Wal-Mart, led me to leave the Company in March 1999.

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I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States and State of __________________ that the foregoing is true and correct.

This Declaration was signed by me on ______________________, 2003, at _______________________.

______________________________

Jennifer Furtado

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