A Walmart employee with Down Syndrome has been awarded $125 million after suing the store when they fired her.
According to The Daily Mail, a woman named Marlo Spaeth had worked in a branch of the grocery store chain in Manitowoc, Wisconsin for 16 years.
However, she was fired from her position in 2015, after the store's managers changed her hours and made her work longer days.
According to the lawsuit that was filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2017 on her behalf, this caused health issues for Spaeth, whose condition means that she needs to maintain a rigid daily schedule.
When Spaeth asked management to adjust her schedule by 60 to 90 minutes, they refused and fired her.
The Mail reports that a Green Bay cour jury ultimately took Spaeth's side in the civil dispute, and the judge in her case awarded her $125 million in punitive damages, along with an additional $150,000 in compensatory damages, on July 15.
Commenting on the case in an official press statement, Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove claimed that the company does not tolerate discriminatory HR policies, and routinely accommodates thousands of employees each year.
Per the above publication, Hargove stated: "While Ms. Spaeth’s schedule was adjusted, it remained within the times she indicated she was available.
"We're sensitive to this situation and believe we could have resolved this issue with Ms. Spaeth. However, the EEOC's demands were unreasonable."
Meanwhile, financial social work educator Megan Bigler Tafolla posted about the case on Twitter, writing: "The idea that companies like Walmart would rather budget thousands (of dollars) for litigation instead of doing right by their employees to begin with makes me ill.
"Putting all of that stress on a person and her loved ones because someone didn't want to make schedule adjustments?"
Tafolla then continued: "#MarloSpaeth, I see and hear you, and I’m so sorry that you had to experience a battle just to be heard.
"While not near what you deserve for the experience you had, I hope you are able to do something meaningful with this settlement and that it helps bring some closure."