4. Kroger
> U.S. workforce: 343,000
> CEO compensation: $11.1 million
> Revenue: $96.8 billion
> Net income: $1.5 billion
> No. of U.S. stores: 2,418
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) employs 343,000 workers in 2,418 stores across the country. The company operates stores under several names, including Kroger, City Market, Dillons and others. A majority of Kroger’s employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements between the company and different unions. In the past few months, Kroger has agreed to terms with unions covering thousands of workers in Virginia and Texas. Kroger’s net profit was $1.5 billion at the end of the most recent fiscal year.
1. Walmart
> U.S. workforce: 1.4 million
> CEO compensation: $20.7 million
> Revenue: $469 billion
> Net income: $17.0 billion
> No. of U.S. stores: 4,759
There are 1.4 million Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) associates working at the company’s 4,759 U.S. stores. Walmart recently announced it would launch Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Critics of Walmart see this as adding insult to injury — forcing retail workers who already earn low wages to cut holidays short. Criticisms like these have been part of an onslaught of claims that Walmart underpays its workers. Walmart disagrees, saying that “for tens of thousands of people every year, a job at Walmart opens the door to a better life.” According to the company, a full-time hourly wage is $12.83. Some argue that the company’s number is inflated, however, reflecting the salaries of higher-paid employees. Hourly wages for sales associates are less than $9.00, according to Glassdoor.com. Walmart’s net income rose to $17 billion last year.
Read more: Ten Companies Paying Americans the Least - Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/11/15/ten-companies-paying-americans-the-least/#ixzz2kqTbu2YU
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Read more: Ten Companies Paying Americans the Least - Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/11/15/ten-companies-paying-americans-the-least/#ixzz2kqT9mAZa
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SHERMAN, Texas, Sept. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A Plano, Texas, man has been awarded more than $450,000 in damages against Kroger Texas L.P. in a federal disability discrimination lawsuit, after a jury found he was harassed by his store manager because of his mental disabilities before ultimately being fired after reporting the harassment. Kroger Texas is a division of Cincinnati-based grocery chain The Kroger Co. KR -0.79% .
Karl Tipple, 25, filed the lawsuit last year after a Kroger store manager harassed him for nearly a year before wrongfully firing him in December 2011. The lawsuit alleged the manager repeatedly referred to Mr. Tipple as a "f------ retarded idiot" who was "too stupid to live."
In a verdict issued Thursday, Sept. 26 following three days of testimony, jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Sherman found for Mr. Tipple and awarded him more than $450,000 in damages, which included $250,000 in punitive damages. Additionally, Mr. Tipple may be allowed to recover his attorneys' fees as part of the recovery.
"This case was never about money for Karl," says Mr. Tipple's lead counsel, Matthew Scott of the Kendall Law Group in Dallas. "He wants to make sure that no other disabled Kroger employees are forced to endure this type of abuse in the future."
Mr. Tipple, who suffers from multiple learning disabilities and graduated from special education classes at Plano West High School, earned high marks for his work at Kroger for nearly five years before being transferred to another location in November 2010. At the time, Mr. Tipple was designated an assistant bakery manager, but the new store manager quickly demoted him to a part-time position.
Jurors heard testimony that the store manager frequently yelled at Mr. Tipple on the sales floor during business hours, using profanity and other abusive language, including the derogatory comments about Mr. Tipple's mental disabilities.
"This was clearly a case where a high-functioning person with disabilities was victimized by his manager with the support of Kroger higher management," says former federal judge Joe Kendall, founder of the Kendall Law Group. "After he reported the abuse, Kroger refused to investigate his claims, and instead fired him."
The Kendall Law Group is a trial firm that represents individuals in employment discrimination and securities fraud lawsuits against companies. Visit the firm's website at http://www.kendalllawgroup.com.
SOURCE Kendall Law Group
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