SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KNWA/KFTA) — A jury in California found Walmart defamed a truck driver with false claims of workers’ compensation fraud and will have to pay the former worker more than $34 million in damages.
On Nov. 20, the San Bernardino County jury awarded Jesus “Jesse” Fonseca $25 million in punitive damages and an additional $9.7 million for future non-economic losses, which included enjoyment of life and mental suffering.
Fonseca’s attorneys said the jury found Walmart falsely accused him of violating the company’s integrity policy under its statement of ethics, CBS News reported.
Fonseca worked for Walmart for 14 years before he was fired, his lawyer David deRubertis said in a post on X after the verdict was announced.
“We believe the evidence at trial showed that Walmart’s defamation of Jesse was part of a broader scheme to use false accusations to force injured truckers back to work prematurely or, if not, terminate them so that Walmart can cut down workers’ compensation costs,” deRubertis said.
Fonseca was injured in an accident when a semi-truck collided with his Walmart truck in June 2017, according to the lawsuit.
After the accident, he filed a workers’ compensation claim and was told by doctors to refrain from pushing, pulling or lifting anything over 10 pounds and to stop driving commercial vehicles.
The lawsuit, filed on March 28, 2019, alleged Walmart failed to accommodate those restrictions.
Fonseca was placed on medical leave but was eventually terminated after the company surveilled him and found he had driven his personal vehicle. He said that he was only restricted from driving commercial vehicles.
Walmart also said it saw Fonseca “bending for a matter of minutes,” according to deRubertis.
“The notion that someone possibly performing daily activities outside of their work restrictions amounts to fraud is preposterous,” the complaint said. “Yet, even if an employee with work restrictions inadvertently violates them, this does not amount to fraud in the workplace.”
Walmart called the verdict “outrageous” in a statement to Nexstar’s KNWA/FOX24.
“This outrageous verdict simply does not reflect the straightforward and uncontested facts of this case. Accordingly, we will pursue all available remedies,” a spokesperson for the retail giant said.