As Walmart moves to phase out its familiar blue-vested “greeters” at some 1,000 stores nationwide, disabled workers who fill many of those jobs say they’re being ill-treated by a chain that styles itself as community-minded and inclusive. Walmart WMT, -0.12% told greeters around the country last week that their positions would be eliminated on April 26 in favor of an expanded, more physically demanding “customer host” role. To qualify, they will need to be able to lift 25-pound packages, climb ladders and stand for long periods. That came as a heavy blow to greeters with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other physical disabilities. For them, a job at Walmart has provided needed income, served as a source of pride and offered a connection to the community. Now Walmart, America’s largest private employer, is facing a backlash as customers rally around some of the chain’s most visible and beloved employees. Walmart says it is striving to place greeters in other jobs at the company, but workers with disabilities are worried. Donny Fagnano, 56, who has worked at Walmart for more than 21 years, said he cried when a manager at the store in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, called him into the office last week and told him his job was going away. “I like working,” he said. “It’s better than sitting at home.” Fagnano, who has spina bifida, said he was offered a severance package. He hopes to stay on at Walmart and clean bathrooms instead. Walmart greeters have been around for decades, allowing the retail giant to put a friendly face at the front of its stores. Then, in 2016, Walmart began replacing greeters with hosts, with responsibilities that include not only welcoming customers but helping with returns, checking receipts to deter shoplifters and keeping the front of the store clean. Walmart and other chains have been redefining roles at stores as they compete with Amazon AMZN, +0.19% . The effect of the greeter phase-out on disabled and elderly employees — who have traditionally gravitated toward the role as one they were well-suited to doing — largely escaped public notice until last week, when Walmart launched a second round of cuts. As word spread, first on social media and then in local and national news outlets, outraged customers began calling Walmart to complain. Tens of thousands of people signed petitions. Facebook groups sprang up with names like “Team Adam” and “Save Lesley.” A second-grade class in California wrote letters to Walmart’s CEO on behalf of Adam Catlin, a disabled greeter in Pennsylvania whose mother had written an impassioned Facebook post about his plight. Walmart said it has offered another job to Catlin. In Galena, Illinois, hundreds of customers plan to attend an “appreciation parade” for Ashley Powell on her last day of work as a greeter. “I love it, and I think I’ve touched a lot of people,” said Powell, 34, who has an intellectual disability. In Vancouver, Washington, John Combs, 42, who has cerebral palsy, was devastated and then angered by his impending job loss. It had taken his family five years to find him a job he could do, and he loved the work, coming up with nicknames for all his co-workers. “What am I going to do, just sit here on my butt all day in this house? That’s all I’m going to do?” Combs asked his sister and guardian, Rachel Wasser. “I do my job. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Wasser urged the retailer to “give these people a fair shake. ... If you want to make your actions match your words, do it. Don’t be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” With the U.S. unemployment rate for disabled people more than twice that for workers without disabilities, Walmart has long been seen as a destination for people like Combs. Advocacy groups worry the company is backsliding. “It’s the messaging that concerns me,” said Gabrielle Sedor, chief operations officer at ANCOR, a trade group representing service providers. “Given that Walmart is such an international leader in the retail space, I’m concerned this decision might suggest to some people that the bottom line of the company is more important to the company than inclusive communities. We don’t think those two are mutually exclusive.” The greeter issue has already prompted at least three complaints to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as a federal lawsuit in Utah alleging discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under the federal law, employers must provide “reasonable” accommodations to workers with disabilities. Walmart did not disclose how many disabled greeters could lose their jobs. The company said that after it made the change at more than 1,000 stores in 2016, 80% to 85% of all affected greeters found other roles at Walmart. It did not reveal how many of them were disabled. Last week, Walmart told greeters they would have the customary 60 days to land other jobs at the company. Amid the uproar, the company has extended the deadline indefinitely for greeters with disabilities. “We recognize that our associates with physical disabilities face a unique situation,” Walmart spokesman Justin Rushing said in a statement. The extra time, he said, will give Walmart a chance to explore how to accommodate such employees. Walmart said it has already made offers to some greeters, including those with physical disabilities, and expects to continue doing so in the coming weeks. But some workers say they have been tacitly discouraged from applying for other jobs. Mitchell Hartzell, 31, a full-time Walmart greeter in Hazel Green, Alabama, said his manager told him “they pretty much didn’t have anything in that store for me to do” after his job winds down in April. He said he persisted, approaching several assistant managers to ask about openings, and found out about a vacant position at self-checkout. But it had already been promised to a greeter who doesn’t use a wheelchair, he said. “It seems like they don’t want us anymore,” said Hartzell, who has cerebral palsy. Jay Melton, 40, who has worked as a greeter in Marion, North Carolina, for nearly 17 years, loves church, Tar Heels basketball and Walmart. His sister-in-law, Jamie Melton, said the job is what gets him out of bed. “He doesn’t have a lot of things he does himself that bring him joy,” she said. Addressing Walmart, Melton added: “When you cut a huge population of people out, and you have written a policy that declares they are no longer capable of doing what they have been doing, that is discrimination.”<doc-sep>NEW A vastly improved search engine helps you find the latest on companies, business leaders, and news more easily.<doc-sep>NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- Walmart is changing its trademark "door greeter" job description, and that means many employees will be out of jobs.It's happening at 1,000 stores across the country, including Naperville, where one employee is wondering what is next.For 19 years, Craig Goodwin has been a familiar face at this Walmart in Naperville, greeting customers as they enter and leave the store. The self-described people person loves his job. "I really enjoy helping people and I will listen to them in any way I can," he said.Goodwin has cerebral palsy. He said Walmart hired him when many other businesses wouldn't. "I've known people since their kids were in strollers. Now they're married and stuff," he said.Goodwin and his parents were stunned to find out that the door greeter position is going away.Walmart is replacing it with so-called "customer hosts" who have expanded responsibilities that include being able to lift 25 pounds, collect carts and stand for long periods of time.This is taking effect at 1,000 Walmart stores across the country, a change that disproportionately affects workers with disabilities.Craig's mother, Sharon, found out that it also affects the elderly after she posted on Facebook. "One girl responded that her 76-year-old grandmother just lost her greeter job due to the change and her grandmother is devastated," Sharon Goodwin said.Craig was notified of the change more than a week ago, and was given until the end of April to transition to a new position within the store. He says he was offered the job of fitting room attendant. "For Craig, who has very limited use of his hands, obviously, he can't rehang clothes, so we just don't see this as a viable, workable option," his mother said.For now, it appears the writing is on the wall that Craig will no longer be able to work at Walmart. He says the company is making a big mistake. "People like to see a friendly face at Walmart when they walk through the door," he said.A Walmart spokesperson said up to 85 percent of associates stay within the company in a new role.As for Craig, he is looking into door greeter positions at other stores.He said a lot of friends he's made over the years are upset about this change and have given him a lot of support.Meanwhile, Walmart Walmart Corporate Communications issued this statement:<doc-sep>
Walmart is drawing fire for its plan to phase out the "greeters" who welcome customers at its stores. The retail giant last week started replacing greeters at roughly 1,000 of its locations across the U.S. with what the company calls "customer hosts," according to a Walmart spokesperson. The position requires employees to check receipts, help with product returns and generally help with upkeep at the front of stores. The job change, which has already reportedly been implemented in many Walmart stores, disadvantages disabled and other greeters who would struggle with the physical demands of the new duties, critics said. Walmart, which has more than 5,300 outlets across the U.S., first started rolling out the changes in about 1,000 stores in 2016. "This is a shameful day for the country's largest corporate employer, and a slap in the face to thousands of veteran employees and others with physical disabilities who have given years of service to the corporation," Kristi Branstetter, leader for OUR Walmart, Walmart associate and member of worker advocacy group United4Respect, said in a statement. OUR Walmart has a network of 150,000 Walmart associates, according to a spokesperson for the group. "Walmart's actions — fueled by an uncompromising quest to slash costs, no matter the consequence — seem to be discriminatory, plain and simple. We see you, Walmart, and we're not having it," Branstetter continued. After the greeter positions disappear at designated stores in late April, Walmart employees will have 60 days to explore other jobs at the company. The company said employees with disabilities would be given more time to consider their options. "This allows these associates to continue their employment at the store as valued members of the team while we seek an acceptable, customized solution for all of those involved," Walmart said in a statement. Average pay for full-time Walmart workers in the U.S. is about $14 per hour. One greeter ponders options Among the Walmart greeters who would be affected by the change is 30-year-old Adam Catlin, who has cerebral palsy and who has worked at a Walmart store in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, for more than a decade. Catlin, who is legally blind and uses a walker, would have to lift at least 25 pounds and stand for long periods of time as part of his new duties. Catlin's mother, Holly, drew attention to Walmart's policy change last week on Facebook, provoking a mixture of outrage and sympathy for her son's predicament. Adam Catlin arrives for his shift at Walmart. His family is meeting with Walmart managers today to discuss Adam’s job. Posted by Nikki Krize WNEP on Friday, February 22, 2019 "We're still hopeful that Walmart will be able to offer him something he can do, because he would love to stay there, but otherwise he would have to look for a new job," said Amber Piermattei, Catlin's older sister. Walmart has offered Catlin two different jobs with the company — cashier and photo lab assistant — but he rejected both, Piermattei said. Catlin, who is legally blind, lacks the finger dexterity to count money, and he can't move around the photo lab in his walker, she said. "Everything's kind of at a standstill," she said. — The Associated Press contributed to this report