Walmart has been ordered to pay a former truck driver nearly $35 million after a jury found that it had falsely accused him of fraud before firing him, according to court documents and several reports.
Jesus “Jesse” Fonseca – a former Walmart truck driver for 14 years – was awarded $25 million in punitive damages, plus $9.7 million for lost wages and benefits and emotional distress, according to court documents and a tweet from one of his attorneys, David deRubertis of the deRubertis Law Firm.
The jury awarded the damages to the former employee after finding that Fonseca had not violated Walmart’s ethics statement of integrity policy, one of his attorneys told CBS.
“At trial, we showed that Jesse did not violate any policy – let alone, the ‘integrity’ policy,” deRubertis wrote on Twitter.
However, Walmart has called the verdict “outrageous” and plans to continue fighting the case. The verdict “simply does not reflect the simple and undisputed facts of this case. Accordingly, we will continue to pursue all available legal options,” the company told FOX Business.
In the original 2019 lawsuit against Walmart, obtained by CBS, Fonseca claimed he was injured when another truck rear-ended his Walmart truck while on duty in June 2017.
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FOX Business contacted one of Fonseca’s attorneys, Mo Eldessouky of the Eldessouky Law firm, for comment.
In the lawsuit, Fonseca claimed that he filed a claim for damages for his injuries. He was reportedly told by doctors not to lift, pull, or carry anything heavier than 10 pounds. They also advised him to stop driving commercial vehicles, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit further alleges that Walmart failed to comply with these work restrictions. It also alleges that Fonseca was fired while on medical leave after the company tracked him and discovered he was driving a personal vehicle.
Fonseca believed he was allowed to drive personal vehicles while he was restricted from driving commercial vehicles.
“This triggered an internal Walmart fraud investigation. The internal fraud investigator found Jesse to be honest and credible; they found no fraud. Nevertheless, consistent with Walmart’s policy for this situation, the fraud investigator’s report was forwarded to Walmart’s ethics department,” deRubertis wrote on Twitter.
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