Walmart Fired a 16-Year Employee With Down Syndrome - A Jury Awarded Her $125 Million

A jury in Green Bay, Wisconsin needed just three hours to decide that Walmart owed one of its longest-serving employees $125 million. The employee was Marlo Spaeth, a woman with Down syndrome who had stocked shelves and handled returns at the Manitowoc, Wisconsin store for 16 years - all with consistently positive performance reviews from her managers.

The Schedule That Changed Everything

In November 2014, Walmart rolled out a new computerized scheduling system designed to match staffing levels with customer traffic. Spaeth's familiar noon-to-4pm shift was replaced with a 1pm-to-5:30pm slot. For most employees, a shift change is an inconvenience. For Spaeth, it was a serious problem.

The new hours disrupted her strict daily routine - including when she ate dinner. Eating at irregular times made her physically sick. Her family and job coach contacted Walmart multiple times requesting that she return to her original schedule, a straightforward accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Response Nobody Expected

Walmart refused. When Spaeth continued showing up for her old shift times, the company marked her absent. In July 2015, after 16 years of reliable work, Walmart terminated her for "absenteeism."

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) took up Spaeth's case, suing Walmart on three counts of disability discrimination under the ADA - failure to accommodate, discriminatory termination, and retaliation.

Three Hours Was All It Took

After a four-day trial in July 2021, the eight-member jury deliberated for roughly three hours before returning a verdict of $125,150,000 - split between $150,000 in compensatory damages and $125 million in punitive damages. It was one of the largest ADA verdicts in history.

But here is where the system shows its limits. Federal law caps punitive damages in ADA cases based on employer size. For a company the size of Walmart, that cap is $300,000. The jury's $125 million message was reduced to a fraction of a single day's revenue for the retail giant.

The Verdict That Survived Every Challenge

Walmart fought the outcome at every level. The company requested a new trial, which the judge denied in November 2022. It then appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the jury's findings on both liability and damages in August 2024. The verdict stood - even if the payout didn't match the outrage.