Throughout the stress-inducing past two weeks, John Combs of Vancouver was concerned not only about losing his job at the Walmart on Northeast 192nd Avenue, but losing something else.
That other concern was put to rest Wednesday after he signed job-description paperwork for a different assignment.
“I get to keep my Walmart family,” he told his sister, Rachel Wasser of Vancouver.
Combs, 42, signed the “Self Checkout Host” job description with several people watching: Wasser, who serves as her brother’s legal guardian; Wasser’s husband, Josh Wasser; and the manager of the Walmart Supercenter at 430 S.E. 192nd Ave. Throughout the visit, fellow Walmart employees entered the manager’s office to congratulate Combs.
“There were (co-workers) coming in saying, ‘I’m so glad. You deserve to be here,'” said Rachel Wasser, who co-signed the document.
Her brother, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, will keep his same hours and days – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – but will be eased into his new role.
For more than two years, Combs has worked as a greeter, or customer host, at the store.
But on Feb. 18, he was told his job was being reclassified, adding responsibilities such as being able to lift at least 25 pounds, stand for long periods, write reports, and read receipts in order to be able to stay on as a customer host. If he could not perform those duties, his last day of employment would be April 26.
Combs, who has no use of his right hand and limited use of his left, realized his days in his beloved job would be coming to an end.
However, his sister set in motion several efforts on her brother’s behalf, rallying support through the media, her Facebook page and contact with other families across the country whose loved ones faced a similar dilemma. The Walmart policy changed affected greeters at perhaps 1,000 stores.
Combs’ photo appeared on news sites and in newspapers throughout the U.S., along with other disabled greeters – in Selinsgrove, Pa.; Marion, N.C.; Hazel Green, Fla.; Illinois and South Carolina.
On Feb. 28, Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart’s U.S. stores, said in a memo to store managers that “we are taking some specific steps to support” greeters with disabilities. The massive chain would make “every effort” to find a role for disabled workers, Foran wrote.
And March 1, Combs was offered the self-checkout host position.
“This would not have occurred without the public outcry we had across the nation,” Rachel Wasser said on Thursday.
But before she would allow her brother to accept, Wasser felt compelled to do some due diligence. She questioned a corporate official at the Bentonville, Ark., headquarters about some aspects of the job description, concerned that Combs may not be able to handle the duties as they were originally drafted.
The corporate official agreed with Wasser’s suggested modifications to the job description, sending the revised document to the local store manager.
As his greeter role is phased out, Combs will be eased into his new role, Wasser said.
“He’s very happy,” Wasser said of her brother. “We’re very thankful as a family.”
Not all disabled or elderly greeters nationwide are finding a similar transition as Combs.
Jessica Bergman, 52, has spina bifida and is a Walmart greeter in Moscow, Idaho. Bergman told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News this week that she doesn’t know whether she’ll have a job after April 26. Another greeter at the Walmart in Pewaukee, Wis., who has a traumatic brain injury, doesn’t know what his future at the store will be, reported The Post Crescent of Appleton, Wis.
An assistant manager at the 192nd Walmart referred questions to a corporate spokesperson. An email seeking clarification about Walmart’s effort to carry out CEO Foran’s directive did not receive a reply on Thursday.
