Decatur, Ill (WAND) – Kelley Suzewits is disabled and lost her job as a Walmart greeter after 20 years.
Walmart is making changes nationwide turning the People Greeter position into a Customer Host job. As Customer Host greeters must be able to lift a certain amount of weight. Kelley is a quadriplegic and does not have the ability to lift that much. She is among many disabled Walmart workers who can’t meet the job requirements.
Kelley was called to a manager’s office in July and told she no longer had a job. She was then clocked out one hour early and had to wait an hour for a city bus to pick her up. She receives Social Security disability benefits but needs the extra income so she can live independently.
Fran Tonsor is Kelley’s mother.  She has a stack of letters she has exchanged with Walmart and a second company trying to find another position with the company for her daughter. Thus far nothing has worked. Fran tells WAND News the office of State Senator Andy Manar, (D) Bunker Hill, has provided some assistance.
A statement from Walmart on the company changes cite a need to remain competitive. It also says it’s displaced disabled workers can apply for other jobs. However, when Kelley’s mother called the east side Walmart where Kelley worked Fran was told they did not have any jobs Kelley would qualify for.
