Former Walmart truck driver falsely accused of fraud awarded $34.7 million by California jury – The Mercury News

A former Walmart truck driver has been awarded $34.7 million after a San Bernardino County jury determined the company falsely accused him of fraud before firing him while he was on medical leave.

Jesus “Jesse” Fonseca worked as a truck driver for Walmart’s Apple Valley Distribution Center for 14 years before he was injured on the job when another vehicle rear-ended his truck on a freeway, according to court documents shared by Fonseca’s lawyers. After Fonseca filed a workers’ compensation claim, the company accused him of fraud and fired him.

Fonseca sued Walmart for disability discrimination, failure to accommodate her disability, failure to engage in an interactive process, retaliation and failure to prevent discrimination, all in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act. He also accused the company of interference and retaliation, in violation of the California Family Rights Act, as well as hostile work environment harassment, wrongful termination, infliction of emotional distress and defamation.

“We believe the evidence at trial showed that Walmart’s defamation of Jesse was part of a larger scheme to use false allegations to force injured truckers to return to work prematurely or, if not, terminate them, so Walmart can reduce workers’ compensation costs.” David deRubertis, Fonseca’s lead attorney, said in a statement. “We hope this historic verdict will be the beginning of change in Bentonville.”

The jury awarded Fonseca $25 million in punitive damages and an additional $9.7 million verdict for future and past losses, including emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life.

Walmart officials said they would take further action after the jury’s verdict.

“This outrageous verdict simply does not reflect the direct and undisputed facts of this case,” Walmart responded in a statement. “Accordingly, we will pursue all available remedies.”

After Fonseca was treated at a hospital for his injuries, he filed a workers’ compensation claim and was evaluated by a doctor every few weeks starting in June 2017 to modify his work restrictions, according to the process.

Fonseca’s work restrictions changed at times, but generally included that he could not push, pull or lift more than five to 10 pounds or drive commercial vehicles. While the restrictions were communicated to Walmart management, they failed to accommodate Fonseca’s needs, his attorneys argued.

The day after the accident, Fonseca was placed on medical leave, and Walmart did not explore alternative duties he could perform, the lawsuit states. Even though Fonseca asked to be allowed to do modified duties and asked if he could perform clerical duty in an office position, he was not allowed to, according to the lawsuit.

Before leaving, Fonseca told Walmart officials he was going on two family trips that had been planned before the accident, his attorneys said. Fonseca’s doctors wrote restrictions at the time, which included that he was not allowed to drive, bend or stoop. His lawyers say Walmart hired a private investigator who documented Fonseca driving an RV and bending over several times during family trips.

In January 2018, Walmart officials called Fonseca and questioned him for about 20 to 30 minutes about a fraud report. They told Fonseca that they heard a report that he was driving a vehicle despite restrictions that said he couldn’t.

Fonseca told them he did not believe he had done anything wrong because the restrictions prevented him from driving commercial vehicles and he believed he could drive for personal reasons, the lawsuit states.

He had not spoken to anyone at Walmart about the reported fraud until an official called him in March 2018 and said Fonseca had been accused of fraud and would be fired for “serious misconduct and integrity,” according to the suit.

Fonseca attempted to discuss his termination with Walmart’s vice president of shipping, who initially said he would return to Fonseca that day, but later declined to speak with him because he was represented by workers’ compensation counsel, it said in process.

In the months after his termination in November 2018, Fonseca applied to several jobs but did not hear back after he was forced to disclose that he had been fired from Walmart and suspected of fraud, according to the suit.