ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996 TAG: 9602140079
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MIAMI
SOURCE: KAREN TESTA ASSOCIATED PRESS
WHEN THE CHAIN failed to pay up on a court order, federal agents were given the go-ahead to collect.
When Kmart Corp. failed to pay up immediately on a $2 million court order, U.S. marshals declared their own blue-light special at two stores.
About six agents dressed in raid jackets emptied the cash registers of $45,000 Monday night at stores in Hollywood and Davie. A court clerk gave the go-ahead for attorneys to collect the money after Kmart failed to post the required bond in an age-discrimination lawsuit.
``Jesse James held up a train and counts his money in the woods. These guys counted it on the counter in the front of everybody,'' said Louis Eso, who was shopping with his wife at the Kmart in Hollywood when it was raided.
Company officials were outraged.
``I would have to think our federal marshals would have other activities they could be attending to rather than this charade,'' said Shawn Kahle, a spokeswoman for the Troy, Mich.-based department store chain.
In August, a federal jury awarded three former Kmart pharmacists $2.17 million in back pay and damages. The jury found that Kmart engaged in age discrimination when it began a program to bring in a younger management team to fill the positions of pharmacists, store managers and others.
U.S. District Judge C. Clyde Atkins lowered the verdict to $920,000 plus attorneys' and court fees.
Atkins agreed to stop the three plaintiffs from collecting while the case is under appeal, but Kmart had to post a $2 million bond in case it loses.
When the bond paid wasn't posted by Monday afternoon, the court clerk issued a writ and ordered U.S. marshals to collect. Attorneys for the pharmacists met with the marshals and decided to raid the two stores about 25 miles north of Miami. They were picked because they were closest to the marshals' homes; the stores had no connection to the age-discrimination case.
The writ ``allows us to attach any assets Kmart Corporation owns,'' attorney Glen Waldman said. ``We could have taken their goods. We could have taken their cash registers. We had considered backing up some semi trucks and taking the merchandise. But we decided this would be easier for us.''
The marshals and local police entered the stores, spoke to the managers and collected the cash. They took only bills, no change.
``We just kept it real low-key. We didn't want to stir up any dust,'' said John Hackman, a supervisory deputy U.S. marshal.
The two stores stayed open during the raids, but customers had to pay with credit cards, checks or exact change.
Kmart paid the $2 million bond in time to avoid a third raid planned for Tuesday.
Kmart was getting the bond together Monday when the raids were ordered, Kahle said. The court had closed by the time it had the money ready to be wired, she said.
Waldman said he was just trying to protect his clients' interests.
``You hope that a big company like Kmart, that as soon as they go ahead and file an appeal, they post a bond,'' Waldman said. ``That's standard practice.''
Atkins does not comment on his cases, his secretary said Tuesday.
The discrimination suit was filed two years ago on behalf of Seymour Kobal, who was 63 when he was fired in 1993; Raquel Puente, who was 65; and William Gordon, who was 62. All three were pharmacists at stores in the Miami area.
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