Attorney: Wal-Mart Collected On Deaths [Life Insurance Policies on People Without Telling Them]

Tampa Tribune ^ | Jul 3, 2007 | ELAINE SILVESTRINI

[DouglasKC]

Another anti-Walmart screed which no doubt originated with a disgruntled union rep:

Wal-Mart, which said it canceled its policies in early 2000 because it was losing money on the arrangemen, says the program was intended to reduce its income taxes to help pay rising employee health care costs. Workers were notified and given the opportunity to opt out, the company said. Myers said this corporate practice is not uncommon. He estimates that up to 25 percent of Fortune 500 companies have taken out such policies on employees. The vast majority of the time, the employees didn't know, Myers said.

[DouglasKC]

Ho ‘bout the fact it was done without people’s knowledge? Would you want your employer taking out a policy on you without telling you about it?

From the article:

Workers were notified and given the opportunity to opt out, the company said.

[ExGeeEye]

Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner.

I believe most of the problems we have in this country stem from nosey people so busy minding others’ business that they end up letting their own go.

[ExGeeEye]

Ding-ding-ding! Another winner.

Somehow not that many get it.

[ExGeeEye]

Would you want your employer taking out a policy on you without telling you about it?

Meh...don't care.

[ExGeeEye]

...let's say your boss walks into your office today and says, "hey, by the way, Keith, we've got a $500,000 insurance policy on you."

How would this effect you at all?

All of a sudden, I would have a great deal more confidence in my job security.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The part that has me questioning Wal-Mart’s fair play here is the fact that they’ve been successfully sued over this. I’m not sure if it’s legit or they got an O.J. jury. To me, there’s a lot of unanswered questions.