Almost three years ago, I wrote about James Lynn, a whistle-blower who worked for Wal-Mart and exposed the Beast’s exploitation of workers in Central America. Wal-Mart fired Lynn, claiming he had engaged in improper "fraternization" with a colleague. A couple of days ago, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled in Wal-Mart’s favor:

The Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a former Wal-Mart employee wasn’t wrongfully terminated after he reported inhumane workplace conditions at Costa Rican suppliers.

The court said that even if his allegations were true, Wal-Mart’s actions did not violate state law.

    A few thoughts.

    First, aren’t you shocked that an ARKANSAS appeals court would rule in favor of Wal-Mart?

    Second, as I understand it, the court ruled in favor of Wal-Mart based on the "employee at-will" doctrine–meaning, that when you don’t have a union or a specific contract that governs under what conditions you can be fired, a corporation can can you whenever it feels.

    Third, and most important, whatever Lynn did or did not do with his colleague and whether or not the court was following the law, let’s not forget this–he was willing to put his job at risk to uncover some pretty ugly conditions. Hopefully, Lynn will appeal.