Former Walmart worker claims she was wrongfully accused of stealing cakes

A woman claims she lost her job after her former employer accused her of stealing two cakes.

Diana King claims she was working for Walmart on Aug. 15 when she was accused of stealing one cake for her grandson and another for a family friend named Tyler. Walmart employees accused King of leaving with the cakes on two different occasions, according to the complaint filed Sept. 10 in Madison County Circuit Court.

However, King contends that the cakes had been purchased and that she was taking them home as a convenience for her daughter and her family friend. She even offered to bring in receipts to prove that the cakes had been paid for, the suit states. Still, Walmart discharged her for theft, the complaint says.

Before her termination, King had a rocky history with the store. For instance, she had sustained a severe back injury when she slipped and fell on a wet, freshly mopped floor in the bakery on Sept. 27, 2011, according to the complaint. On Aug. 2, 2012, she applied for an application for adjustment of claim before the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission against Walmart, the suit states.

“The discharge of the plaintiff Diana King from her employment by defendant Walmart Stores was causally related to plaintiff Diana King’s workers’ compensation claim against defendant Walmart Stores,” the complaint says. “Defendant Walmart Stores fired plaintiff in retaliation for pursuit of her workers’ compensation claim.”

Because of her job loss, King claims she lost wages, experienced pain and suffering and was unable to secure employment.

In her complaint, King seeks a judgment of more than $100,000, plus punitive damages of more than $100,000 and costs.

John H. Leskera of Leskera Law Firm in Collinsville will be representing her.

Madison County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-1531.