Wal-Mart: Injured Worker Can Keep $470,000 Reimbursement

April 2, 2008 10:59 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is abandoning its court-backed right to collect $470,000 in medical expenses from a former employee who won a settlement in a car accident that disabled her.

According to AOL.com, the largest retailer in the world said Tuesday in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank that it will no longer seek reimbursement of medical costs from the $700,000 the family received from the owner of the tractor trailer that crashed into her minivan in 2000.

The company decided that the case of the 52-year-old victim, who lost her memory and ability to talk and walk, merited waiving the reimbursement known as subrogation that the Supreme Court okayed in a ruling in 2006. Wal-Mart officials said that in the future they will review company policies on subrogation and allow waivers on a case by case basis.

ABCNews.com also quoted Wal-Mart as saying that the company apologized in the letter to the Jackson, Missouri, family for demanding repayment of the medical expenses.

Jim Shank, husband of the victim, welcomed the gesture by Wal-Mart, which had received media criticism for pursuing the reimbursement in court.

Wal-Mart's move eases pressure on Shank's family as the remaining funds for the victim's care have dwindled.