Walmart Still Avoiding Paying $7000 Fine For Worker Killed By Black Friday Shoppers In 2008

In 2008, a Walmart employee was killed when a mob of deal-desperate Black Friday shoppers tore the store’s doors from their hinges and stormed inside, trampling him to death. The chain was eventually fined $7000 for their role in the employee’s death — but six years and $2 million later, the world’s largest retailer has yet to pay up.

The fine was the result of an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which found that Walmart did indeed put employees at risk by failing to put “reasonable and effective” crowd management in place. When the fine — the maximum possible — was levied in May of 2009, Walmart had 15 days either to pay or to appeal.

The chain, which brought in over $475 billion in revenue last year, chose to appeal the $7000 fine. A year later, in 2010, they’d spent more than $2 million on the appeal. Their argument went to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission — an independent group set up to rule on challenges to OSHA penalties — back in 2011. And it’s been sitting there ever since.

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