73-year-old sues Wal-Mart for discrimination

EAST SETAUKET, New York

The woman who is 73 years old, claims she was forced to perform hard labor after returning from disability leave.

She claims the company discriminated against her.

Anne Squatrito says she dedicated her life to her work but after nearly two decades, she claims her bosses at Wal-Mart discarded her like a piece of trash.

"In getting rid of 17 year employees at a dollar a year raise, I'm up to about $22 an hour. They start their employees at $7.50. They can hire three for me," she said.

For at least the past eight years, the widow with a heart condition says her bosses at the East Setauket Wal-Mart have tried to get her to quit, by steadily increasing her workload, allegedly forcing her to move pallets.

Eventually she was fired and now, as her lawyer sues the world's largest employer claiming discrimination, the company vigorously denies it and tells a much different story.

"Ms. Squatrito was dismissed for repeatedly failing to observe our time clock policies. We take violations of meal and rest breaks seriously and had addressed this issue with her on various occasions," said a Wal-Mart spokesperson.

"Last year, Wal-Mart ranked number among the "top 50 employers" by Careers and Disabled magazine. We also have more than 400,000 associates over the age of 50 working for the company," the company also points out.

Wal-Mart insists this is a case of an employee that didn't check in and out on time. She's looking for backpay and to return to work.

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