Arrival
A woman who was in her forties was casually browsing her work email when she passed through a message that caught her eye. Feeling tired after almost seven hours of shift, her mood instantly changed when she clicked on the mail. Upon clicking, she was delighted with what she saw. The time had come.
She had been waiting for this day since the beginning of the month, and she was so excited. Little did she know that this was only the tip of the iceberg.
Monthly Budget
The woman’s long agony was finally over when she was greeted by a mail from the HR department saying that her pay for the month was already credited to her bank account. Inside her mind, she thought that she may now allot a budget for her grocery, and right after ending her shift, she started listing things on her grocery list.
Grocery Day
The following day, the woman was very excited to pack her things because she would be having a grocery day. Every month, it had been a routine for her as she loved shopping and filling the cart with grocery items. While heading her way, she was very energetic, but she didn’t have an idea what would happen next.
Unending Lines
It didn’t take her long before the woman reached Walmart, which she considered a special place to her. Inside Walmart, she finds items that bring her comfort and peace. The woman’s interest is doing groceries and she allots half of her budget for this. While grabbing for a push cart, she saw that cashier-attended counters were waiting in long lines, so she considered self-checkout for later.
Shopping Spree
The woman, named Lesleigh Nurse, started her monthly-anticipated routine. She immediately searched for dog food and was delighted to discover that it was on sale. She put a couple of dairy products inside her cart, and after a few hours, she became fulfilled and decided to proceed to the self-checkout counter. She was very excited as this was her first time trying the feature of the store, but the feeling won’t last as she was about to end up in another core memory.
Technical Error
Lesleigh carefully scanned her items one by one using the self-checkout counter thinking that it would save her time as she wouldn’t need to fall in line, but she didn’t know that something crazy was about to happen. After following that user manual about the payment process, she packed her things, but before she left the counter, she noticed that the monitor had some sort of glitch.
Larceny
Lesleigh, who thought that she had had a successful grocery day, decided to ignore the glitch. But when she was about to exit the store, she was denied entry by the storekeepers who accused her of shoplifting. Clueless about what happened, she calmly explained that she had paid for the items. The storekeepers ignored her explanation and detained her. However, later they’ll find out that they did her wrong.
Interrogation
After being detained, Lesleigh was put under interrogation about her background. She coordinated by telling her story, and she shared that to them she has been a resident of Alabama for all of her life. She pleaded that she had a clean record, so theft was something that she would never do. She added that Alabama was her home, and she loved everything about it, from the people, the pollution, and the vast greenery. She mentioned a lot of things that the interrogator gladly listened to.
Accused
She started to feel that the tension was getting more intense when the store manager entered the room, escorted by a couple of police officers. The two parties talked with each other, but the result was still unfavorable to Lesleigh. After hearing that she’s still being accused of being a shoplifter, she couldn’t contain her emotions and passed out right after.
Bonus
Lesleigh just recently celebrated her 15th work anniversary being a customer success specialist. This milestone gave her a monetary award for services rendered. With her payroll being more than her average pay, she had more budget to allocate for the groceries but what happened was unfortunate for her. Before passing out, she was also asked about her marital status, and she remembered her traumatic experience that added fuel to the fire resulting in her passing out.
Lovelife
During her last year of college, Lesleigh started to date someone, and it didn’t take a while before their relationship bloomed. After graduation, the couple decided to get married, and with their savings combined, they decided to rent an apartment to build a family. The married couple had a happy affair in the first few months, but after a few tries of having a child, all they had were failures.
Abused Wife
Soon they found out that Lesleigh was incapable of carrying a child. Thus, they couldn’t raise a baby. This news caused her husband’s feelings to change. What used to be a loving relationship became an abusive one. His husband’s frustrations translated to her being abused, she tried to resist the thought that was running in her head, but after a few attempts, she snapped.
Divorce
Lesleigh decided to cut ties with her husband and filed for a divorce, and when the contract was granted, the two separated. Lesleigh lived in a simple apartment and decided to adopt two dogs from a dog shelter as companions. Living alone was painful to her, but she was relieved that she no longer had to feel abused again, just like what she used to experience before.
Resolutory Blessing
For over two decades, Lesleigh got used to living alone. Without her husband, she learned to do things all by herself, including household chores and laundry, and that included her hobby of having groceries. But she was clueless that this hobby of hers would change her fate forever.
Difficult Childhood
All Lesleigh had from childhood was the trauma that her parents had caused her. Lesleigh was physically abused, and this caused her to isolate herself from her family. She became less affectionate to them and became alienated.
Loving the People
Her feeling of isolation almost caused her to move to a different state. But after making a lot of friends in her neighborhood, Lesleigh started to love Alabama again. Although she had a hard childhood, that didn’t hinder her from being the nicest person in town. She never got into a fight nor had an enemy. But things are about to change as she’ll be facing a gargantuan foe.
Active Citizen
Lesleigh started to become more active in her community when the divorce happened. To take the pain away, she got herself occupied by serving in different organizations, and little by little, she started to gain exposure. When she realized that she was making good progress in her mental health, she continued engaging in more volunteer work.
Community Support
A few years passed, and Lesleigh established her name in Alabama. She became a household in the state and got several awards causing the people to respect her. So when the news about shoplifting circulated, everybody was in shock as they knew that Lesleigh was not the type of person who could steal items inside the grocery store. After being discharged, Lesleigh got her community’s support as everyone sided with her over the unjust allegations.
Loyal Customer
Lesleigh’s apartment was only a five-minute drive from Walmart. For almost a decade, the store became her favorite go-to place to have shopping because of the good deals inside the store. Lesleigh never imagined that the store would cause her trouble. Being a regular customer, she never thought she’d be treated unfairly, and worse, branded as a shoplifter.
Damaged Reputation
The root cause of the problem was the self-checkout counter. Initially, Lesleigh applauded this feature of the store because of the convenience it gave to the customers, but in Lesleigh’s case, it was the complete opposite. The issue spread like wildfire in her town, and this resulted in Lesleigh being dismissed from her job.
Consequences
Lesleigh couldn’t accept the job termination, so she pleaded for reconsideration. She was asked to submit a clearance stating that she was free of criminal records. But with the accusations thrown at her, she failed to submit and thus resulted in the job dismissal being finalized. Lesleigh found it hard to accept what happened to her, but with her having no job, all she had was savings worth one grand.
Dismissal
After being arrested, it took one year before the case was presented to the regional court. Eventually, her case was dismissed, and Lesleigh hoped that her life would return to normal. A few weeks passed, and Lesleigh was slowly getting her groove doing business. She used her savings to buy baking equipment, and later on, Lesleigh started to sell pastries as a source of income. Just when Lesleigh thought that she was free from worries, Walmart started to come at her again.
Surprise Letter
One day, when Lesleigh grabbed all her bills inside the mailbox, she noticed that there was an extra envelope that was unusual to her. She opened it first and got shocked when she saw a paper containing a letter from a Florida Law firm stating that she had to pay over 200 dollars. But what she had read at the bottom of the paper left her stunned.
Defense
After reading the statement stating that she’ll be sued if she's not going to pay the sum of money, Lesleigh’s emotions heightened, but she decided not to pay. After what she experienced in Walmart’s incident, she decided to fight back by collecting all the emails she’s received before.
Scrutiny
After her careful investigation, she found out that the letters she was receiving were sent by someone representing Walmart. She remembered that the items’ worth was only less than 50 dollars before, so she questioned why she had to pay over 200 dollars to them. She thought that it was completely unfair and that Walmart was intimidating her.
Suing the Suer
The next day, Lesleigh felt she was done with all the damage and injustice that had been done to her. She decided to pay a visit to a local law firm in her neighborhood. She asked for help in filing a case against Walmart and stated that she’d give them a dose of their medicine. Lesleigh sued Walmart for its false accusations. Not knowing if she would succeed, Lesleigh took her chance.
Unethical Practice
The investigation became deeper, and Lesleigh’s team discovered something very unethical, which they took advantage of in the case. Apparently, what Lesleigh experienced was a constant practice of Walmart. The grocery store has been known to engage in repetitive acts of unjust accusations over shoppers and demanding a sum of money from them. Lesleigh couldn’t contain what she had discovered. She knew that she was not the only one that Walmart fooled.
Big Numbers
The case eventually progressed when a legal expert testified for Leslie and stated that what Walmart was doing was a civil recovery loss, and they found out that in just two years, almost 2 million shoppers had become a victim. What was presented next in the court left the whole jury furious.
Case Closed
The legal expert testified to the jury that Walmart, through this act, was able to collect over 300 million dollars, the amount was highly material, and right after, Walmart’s defense stated that the practice was legal. The trial ended, and everyone, including Lesleigh, was anxious about the result. The jury sided with Lesleigh, and the decision left a tough lesson for Walmart over the acts of false accusations towards its customer as they were asked by the court to pay Lesleigh a hefty 2.1 million dollars.
Aftermath
After knowing that she’ll be paid that huge amount, Lesleigh was completely speechless. To her, she didn’t expect to be paid money. All she wanted was to have justice and clear her name. Being a kind-hearted person, she donated half the money to her supported organizations, and she continued living her simple life in Alabama. After winning the case, Walmart got rid of her, and Lesleigh had her life back to normal.