Thu, May 30, 2024, at 2:53 PM
Wednesday, May 29, 2024

TO: Doug McMillon, President and CEO, Walmart Inc.
Walmart Headquarters
702 S.W. 8th St.
Bentonville, AR 72716

Subject: Racial Equity Audit Vote – 2024 Shareholders Meeting

Dear Doug McMillon,

My name is Mark Eberra. I am writing you today as a shareholder who is also a long-time associate of Walmart, currently employed at Store 1151 in Kansas City, Kansas.

I recently received correspondence from Walmart Inc. regarding the 2024 Shareholders Meeting indicating that you, along with other members of the Board of Directors, are planning to vote against Racial Equity Audits (REA’s) being conducted at Walmart, and recommending that I do the same. I am writing you today to specifically request that you vote for Racial Equity Audits at the June 5, 2024, Annual Shareholders Meeting. And, as the foundational reason for my recommendation, I would like to share my personal experience as an associate who has been and is currently being intentionally discriminated against on the basis of my race as a Black/African American male by management at Store 1151.

First, it is my understanding that REA’s are defined as follows:

“…independent examinations of whether, and how, a company causes or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race. Results are usually made public. The studies are intended to root out discriminatory practices driven by both racism on the part of individuals as well as so-called systemic racism.”
— bloomberg.com, May 3, 2022
 

In the 2023 Walmart Annual Report, it states: “In the U.S., 50% of the approximately 1.6 million associates identify as people of color.”

If a Racial Equity Audit had been conducted, you would be aware that I am not the only Walmart associate experiencing direct racial discrimination and suffering the adverse effects of “systemic” racism at Walmart Store 1151 — which is most likely occurring at stores nationwide. Take how my specific accomplishments have been treated, as an example.

Throughout my tenure at Walmart, I have excelled in my role as a Front End Team Lead and gone above and beyond my normal duties to be of assistance when needed. I introduced and deployed a metric system known as I-EPS, which aided in producing an additional $1.5 million in revenue during the store’s fiscal year. I have mentored and trained 40 Front End Associates (the Five Star Team) as certified experts in Customer Service, Hosting, and Cashiering, which assisted in doubling the store’s customer service rating. I have also shared my methods of store improvement and developing the Five Star Team on the Walmart Front End Team Lead Facebook page (with over 21,000 Team Leads) and received positive feedback and several success stories.

These are just a few of the innovations I have introduced and put into practice at Store 1151. However, my accomplishments have been diminished, and all evidence — such as reports and receipts — literally taken away, suppressed, and destroyed. Hostile acts motivated by unlawful racial animus and discrimination.

Now imagine what might have been if management had not engaged in discrimination and instead allowed innovation and fairness to flourish regardless of race. With just the I-EPS metric alone, your CFO and analysts could have studied and replicated the formula and rolled it out to stores nationwide. Instead of one associate of color contributing an additional $1.5 million in revenue, all 1.6 million associates could be producing on the same level. And at this very moment in time, you could be announcing these results at your investor conference and confidently forecasting growth and increased return on investment — which would no doubt have a positive impact on the value of Walmart’s stock price.

Instead, the company and its shareholders miss out on extraordinary opportunities because of age-old discrimination and historical practices of institutionalized systemic white supremacy that are not only immoral, unethical, and unlawful — they are simply bad business.

This systemic racism at Walmart Store 1151 is comprised of a racial hierarchy best illustrated in a children’s rhyme that became known at the advent of Jim Crow. It goes as follows:

“If you are white, you are right,
If you are brown, stick around,
If you are black, get back!”
 

This is not just my perception or belief, but a sad statistical reality at Store 1151, manifested in the fact that not a single African American has been promoted to a Coach during my entire 4½ years at that store. I personally have applied or asked if I could apply/interview at least five times, and each and every time I have not even been granted an interview to become a Coach — without any legitimate reason.

This, in light of the fact that I am exceptionally qualified and often more qualified than the white associates who have been given the jobs. Prior to working at Walmart, I obtained over 30 years of experience in Team Building and Leadership Development. In addition to my experience, I have a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and a Master of Arts in Adult and Continuing Education. I was mentored and directly taught by leaders and pioneers in the field, and I completed original research in a Ph.D. program in Urban Leadership and Policy Studies. I have also authored several books. Yet, even with all my professional and academic accomplishments, management at Store 1151 can only see my race when it comes to crossing the color line of becoming a Coach.

And it’s not just the failure to promote where this systemic racial disparity is practiced. There is a common practice where whites are blatantly and unapologetically treated more favorably than Blacks. Take my peer group of similarly situated white peers, who are all Front End Team Leads — I am the only Black/African American FE Team Lead.

I am told by Anne Serino, my white direct supervisor and Front End Coach, to work in the back, while my similarly situated white peers — Team Lead **** ********, Team Lead ****** ****, and Team Lead ***** ******* — mostly work in the front. These white FE Team Leads, who have less seniority and experience than myself, are allowed to create their own schedules, and I am given whatever is left and/or told what to take. These white Team Leads are allowed to leave the store dirty when closing or not complete tasks, and I am held accountable for their failures and told to clean up the next morning when I open.

I am ordered, in writing and in person, directly by Coach Anne, to be subordinate to these white Team Leads and follow their directions even though they are my comparator peers and not my superiors. This mudsill practice of Black subordination to the “superior race” of whites is baked into the Walmart social system, where it’s literally two societies — one white and one black — separate and unequal. In effect, it’s Jim Crow 2.0: discrimination without the “Whites Only” signs.

If I voice my concerns, I am screamed at and berated by Coach Anne in front of customers and associates, and then labeled as “argumentative and combative” — the racist trope of the “angry Black man,” going back to the origins of Jim Crow.

And just so you know, it’s not just my opinion or perception. There are customers who have heard these racially motivated outbursts by my Front End Coach, Anne, and have complained — they are witnesses to these incidents. Many associates as well have heard and witnessed these public humiliations that I have specifically been the target of. Both customers and associates agree that my white peers simply do not receive the same type of hostile treatment and discrimination, leaving me to logically and factually conclude it’s based on my race.

You may be wondering if I have reported these incidents — and I have. I have reported to Global Ethics via email and on the phone multiple times, and in writing to my Store Manager Dennis Hensley and the Market Team’s Connie Freeman and Susan Coffey. No corrective action was taken. However, I did suffer swift and direct retaliation from Store Manager Dennis, Store Lead Kasonga, and Front End Coach Anne Serino.

Some specific examples include, but are not limited to, my work hours being cut, my schedule taken away and given to my white peers, being harassed with baseless criticism, and being disciplined by Coach Anne Serino, who made direct references to my complaints of “discrimination and retaliation” about her and management to Global Ethics. (By the way, I thought reports to Global Ethics were supposed to be confidential.) Along with false negative written feedback, unjust coaching, and poor evaluation ratings that have all been proven to be fabricated and that occurred in close temporal proximity to my reporting of racial discrimination, harassment, and a retaliatory hostile work environment.

Another important reason for a Racial Equity Audit is so you can understand and see exactly what systemic racism looks like. For example, at Store 1151, I have witnessed unequal enforcement of policy along racial lines. One such policy is attendance. My white supervisor, Anne Serino, regularly erases attendance points for the white Team Leads to save them from ending up on the 5-point list and being terminated. Yet, when it comes to Black and brown associates, she will immediately terminate all who have 5+ points.

She also especially terminates associates who oppose discrimination or hostile work environments or report her to Global Ethics through the “Open Door” policy, while again saving her white associates or others who will not oppose discrimination or report concerns. If there were a Racial Equity Audit, you would see statistics that reflect this systemic practice and its structural architecture — and then you would already know these types of incidents were happening.

In the interest of fairness, morality, and social justice, you could then take action to eliminate these unethical and unlawful practices at Walmart. But as of right now, I do not feel anyone at Walmart really cares to listen — to myself and the millions of associates who most likely experience this type of discrimination on a daily basis and are just too afraid to report it.

When you consider that Walmart receives significant revenue from federally funded EBT/SNAP and WIC programs — which are used by a significant percentage of minorities and people of color — it becomes even more unjust to allow institutionalized systemic racism to flourish, especially at the store levels.

As I reported earlier, many customers — especially of Black and brown ethnicity — have complained and will tell you firsthand the racial animus they see directed toward me. But it’s not only about my own individual experience of racism. They can also see that management is mostly white and does not reflect the community our store serves.

These customers have the economic power to take their business to our competitors and use their benefits elsewhere. So once again, from a business perspective, it is very risky to ignore racial equity on an individual and institutional level.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “All we say to America is, ‘Be true to what you said on paper,’” referring to this country’s noble words in the U.S. Constitution. Well, Walmart has said many noble things on paper, with its Code of Conduct and Global Ethics Policy. To paraphrase Dr. King:

Somewhere I read, “Respect for the Individual First...”
Somewhere I read, “…treat people with dignity, lead by example, and listen to each other.”
Somewhere I read, “We … do not tolerate retaliation against anyone who raises a concern about harassment or discrimination.”

Somewhere I read, “We are committed to a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination. We do not tolerate any behavior that diminishes the dignity of a person, inappropriately or unreasonably interferes with work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or otherwise offensive work environment based on an individual’s protected status.”
 

So, like Dr. King, I now say: Walmart, “be true to what you said on paper.” And with that in mind, I urge you to vote YES on the Racial Equity Audit. Then listen to what your associates and customers have to say, and make real, systemic, and lasting change.

Respectfully,

Mark Eberra
Front End Team Lead, Store 1151
P.O. Box 12602
Kansas City, Kansas 66112