Walmart activist was ‘a go-getter’
Formerly a greeter for the company, Betty Dukes led suit against retail giant’s gender pay inequities
ANTIOCH » An Antioch woman who took her battle for women’s rights in the workplace all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court has died.
Betty Dukes was found in her Antioch home on Monday, although it is unknown when she died. She was 67. Dukes made national headlines in 2001 when the Walmart employee became the lead plaintiff in a class- action lawsuit against the retail giant, alleging that the company paid women less than their male counterparts doing comparable work, denied them training as well as chances to advance, and retaliated against those who complained about sex discrimination.
She became the face for an estimated 1.5 million women who had worked for Walmart since 1998, making it the largest class- action employment lawsuit in U. S. history.
“She could have ( given up), but she often said to me, ‘ With God on my side, I know I can win, even against a giant,’ ” said Dorothy Herron, who became close friends with Dukes through Greater McGlothen Memor ial Temple, a black church they both attended in Pittsburg.
“She had a determination that was above the norm. She was a go- getter. If she got her mind to do anything, she would do it no matter the challenges,” Herron said.
Darla Harper saw Dukes passed over for promotions as well as demoted during the approximately eight years they worked together at the Walmart in Pittsburg, and she describes her former colleague as a strong-willed woman who “didn’t take junk from nobody.”
“She was like, ‘ Woman, hear me roar!’ ” said the Discovery Bay resident, who also was named in the lawsuit.
“She didn’t like people to get taken advantage of,” Harper added. “If she saw somebody being treated wrong, she wanted to stand up for them.”
Dukes helped the many Filipinas and Hispanic women who worked at the store feel valued, giving them pep talks in which she would tell them they were just as important as the next person, Harper said.
She was just as bold with her Christian faith on the job; when Dukes encountered a coworker or even a customer who was having a bad day, she would stop what she was doing, take their hand and start praying for them, Harper said.
And if others within earshot objected “it didn’t matter,” she said — Dukes simply would smile and continue telling those who crossed her path that Jesus loved them.
“Her big focus was her faith,” agreed niece Rita Roland, noting that Dukes often would express her trust in God to meet her needs by saying “( He) will always have a ram in the bush.”
When she wasn’t work- ing, Dukes drew on her ability to prepare meals for the masses and organized community banquets with speakers celebrating Martin Luther King Day, Black History Month and the election of President Barack Obama.
She also held musical performances and dinners at the Pittsburg church she eventually joined, as well as helped the congregation distribute turkeys to the needy.
An ordained Baptist minister, Dukes was planning to establish a ministry that would provide cooked meals and clothes to the homeless and hold evening worship services for them.
She was also a woman who loved hats and took pains to ensure that her shoes, purse, earrings and lipstick all matched when she donned her Sunday best, Roland said.
Dukes often went to the movies as well; one of the last films she saw before her death was “Wonder Woman,” which appealed to her because a female is in the starring role, Roland said.
Dukes continued to advocate for women’s rights after she retired; in April she was invited to New York City to join a panel discussion on the topic that was live streamed to college campuses around the country.
Even though Supreme Court justices in June 2011 ultimately dismissed the lawsuit Dukes had championed, Harper said her efforts to level the playing field for women were not in vain.
Friends who still work at local Walmart stores tell her that conditions have improved significantly, said Harper, noting that when she was an employee she often didn’t receive a lunch break and sometimes would grind through two shifts backto- back.
These days, however, management reportedly is adamant that workers take the rests that they’re entitled to, she said.
“It certainly changed the whole entire company,” Harper said of Dukes’ campaign for equality. “Her voice was definitely heard.”
Dukes, who was single, did not have children but is survived by a number of her 11 siblings.
Funeral services are pending.