A Walmart employee who survived the mass shooting at a store in Virginia last week has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for allegedly continuing to employ the shooter “who had known propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior.” The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Chesapeake Circuit Court by the employee and plaintiff, Donya Prioleau, who alleges that she has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, including physical and emotional distress, from witnessing the shooting in the breakroom on November 22.
The shooter, store supervisor Andre Bing, fatally shot six employees and wounded several others before he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot. The lawsuit states that Bing “had a personal vendetta against several Walmart employees and kept a ‘kill list’ of potential targets prior to the shooting.” Additionally, Prioleau had submitted a formal complaint on a Walmart Global Ethics Statement Form, indicating that Bing had “bizarrely and inappropriately commented on Ms. Prioleau’s age” and complaining that Bing had harassed her for “being poor and being short,” according to the lawsuit.
Prioleau alleges in the lawsuit that “Despite Mr. Bing’s long-standing pattern of disturbing and threatening behavior, Walmart knew or should have known about Mr. Bing’s disturbing and threatening behavior, but failed to terminate Mr. Bing, restrict his access to common areas, conduct a thorough background investigation, or subject him to a mental health examination.”
Editorial credit: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com