The Wal-Mart Crusade

Even more disturbing to Azar is what Wal-Mart's behavior portends for working people in the United States.

"This is now the biggest company in America. They employ more people than General Motors," he says. "We've caught them red-handed erasing time off people's time cards. When you're doing that for 900,000 people, that comes out to a lot of money. You can sell stuff for a lot cheaper than anybody else. People say, 'I go there because they have cheap prices.' Now you know why. Eventually, you'll be buying everything at Wal-Mart, and everybody in the country will be making $7.25 an hour."

Brian Stauffer

 

John Johnston

Knight of the Palm table: Frank Azar is crusading on behalf of Wal-Mart pharmacists.

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When employees are not paid overtime, state and federal labor departments are supposed to investigate. However, the government hasn't intervened to help the Wal-Mart employees. "The whole thing is, why do lawyers get involved in this?" Azar asks. "It's because of the department of labor. They say, 'We're understaffed; we don't have the manpower to deal with it. You guys handle it."

Azar vows to keep up his crusade -- and maybe even make the big time doing it.

"It's awfully tough to bury some guys from Trinidad," Azar says. "They tried to bury us in the coal mines, but we remember the massacre. We're tough. Wal-Mart said, 'We have a lot of money, and we're going to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court.' I said, 'So what?'"

He's now preparing to do battle at what promises to be a dramatic three-week trial in June. Azar is eagerly anticipating national media exposure, with television crews set up in the lobby.

"I can't wait for the trial!" he says gleefully, then speculates on the potential for the case to make it to the big screen.

"Don't get John Travolta to play me. I'd like Nicolas Cage," says Azar with a dreamy look on his face.

Then his thoughts turn to the hard legal fight ahead, and reality interrupts the daydream. He shrugs his shoulders.

"If I don't win, I guess I won't ever make it to Hollywood," he says.