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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talk of CNN: Life Insurance on Wal-Mart Employees

Aired December 09, 2002 - 05:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is time to check out the buzz in the Granite State this Monday morning. Mark Ericson and Danielle Carrier, better known as the WOKQ Waking Crew in Portsmouth and Manchester, New Hampshire, are on the phone right now -- good morning.
DANIELLE CARRIER, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH AND MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hey, Carol.

MARK ERICSON, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH AND MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hey -- Carol.

COSTELLO: How you doing?

ERICSON: We're doing fine. How are you?

COSTELLO: I'm fine. Is it good and snowy there?

ERICSON: Just a little bit of leftover snow from last week. The last storm that came our way was more of a southern thing, so we kind of were let off a little easy.

COSTELLO: Oh good.

CARRIER: I don't care, we're determined to have a white Christmas.

COSTELLO: Hey, I got your note, because you know they always send me a note to kind of fill me in on what they're going to talk about, and it has to do with Wal-Mart and insurance policies. And I must say, I was surprised by this.

CARRIER: Isn't this amazing?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CARRIER: It's shocking, actually.

ERICSON: If you haven't heard about this, 48-year-old Michael Rice worked at the Wal-Mart in Tilton, New Hampshire. And a few years back, he helped a customer carry a television set out to her car, and then he collapsed right after he did that, and he passed away seven days later. Wal-Mart collected $325,000 in a life insurance policy. His widow didn't collect anything.

COSTELLO: So Wal-Mart is taking life insurance policies out on every employee? ERICSON: Well it turns out that Wal-Mart bought life insurance policies on more than 350,000 employees nationwide during the 1990s and it has received death benefits worth about a million on nine New Hampshire residents alone. No word...

COSTELLO: Why does it need life insurance policies on employees?

ERICSON: Well, they say that the policies are legal because it costs the company money to hire and train replacements when the employees die. Now I'm not sure how you...

CARRIER: I don't get that.

ERICSON: Three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to train a Wal-Mart employee.

CARRIER: Considering that maybe their yearly salary...

COSTELLO: It's not...

CARRIER: ... is maybe $30,000, you know.

COSTELLO: I know, but it's not like Wal-Mart isn't making any money here.

CARRIER: Exactly. Exactly.

COSTELLO: What about -- what about the widow, is she taking any action against Wal-Mart?

CARRIER: Oh yes.

ERICSON: Well she's become known as the Wal-Mart Widow, and she is suing Wal-Mart claiming that it didn't have the right to take out the life insurance policy on him. She didn't receive anything from this policy. Certainly there are valid points on both sides, but you would think Wal-Mart might share a little bit of the life insurance policy with the widow of this poor gentleman who passed away.

COSTELLO: Well, actually, the question I'd want to know is like they're paying all that money out to Wal-Mart, is that making my insurance premium go up?

CARRIER: Hey, that's a good point.

ERICSON: It probably would be, actually. I'm still trying to figure out how you come up with, because the benefit that was paid was $325,000. How do you -- how do you justify the training of a Wal-Mart employee for that kind of money if Wal-Mart's using that money to, you know, replace the employee?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CARRIER: How hard can it be to train someone to say hi, welcome to Wal-Mart?

COSTELLO: Now come on guys.

CARRIER: I mean...

COSTELLO: Hey, thanks very much, Mark and Danielle, very interesting stuff this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 9, 2002 - 05:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is time to check out the buzz in the Granite State this Monday morning. Mark Ericson and Danielle Carrier, better known as the WOKQ Waking Crew in Portsmouth and Manchester, New Hampshire, are on the phone right now -- good morning.
DANIELLE CARRIER, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH AND MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hey, Carol.

MARK ERICSON, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH AND MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hey -- Carol.

COSTELLO: How you doing?

ERICSON: We're doing fine. How are you?

COSTELLO: I'm fine. Is it good and snowy there?

ERICSON: Just a little bit of leftover snow from last week. The last storm that came our way was more of a southern thing, so we kind of were let off a little easy.

COSTELLO: Oh good.

CARRIER: I don't care, we're determined to have a white Christmas.

COSTELLO: Hey, I got your note, because you know they always send me a note to kind of fill me in on what they're going to talk about, and it has to do with Wal-Mart and insurance policies. And I must say, I was surprised by this.

CARRIER: Isn't this amazing?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CARRIER: It's shocking, actually.

ERICSON: If you haven't heard about this, 48-year-old Michael Rice worked at the Wal-Mart in Tilton, New Hampshire. And a few years back, he helped a customer carry a television set out to her car, and then he collapsed right after he did that, and he passed away seven days later. Wal-Mart collected $325,000 in a life insurance policy. His widow didn't collect anything.

COSTELLO: So Wal-Mart is taking life insurance policies out on every employee? ERICSON: Well it turns out that Wal-Mart bought life insurance policies on more than 350,000 employees nationwide during the 1990s and it has received death benefits worth about a million on nine New Hampshire residents alone. No word...

COSTELLO: Why does it need life insurance policies on employees?

ERICSON: Well, they say that the policies are legal because it costs the company money to hire and train replacements when the employees die. Now I'm not sure how you...

CARRIER: I don't get that.

ERICSON: Three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to train a Wal-Mart employee.

CARRIER: Considering that maybe their yearly salary...

COSTELLO: It's not...

CARRIER: ... is maybe $30,000, you know.

COSTELLO: I know, but it's not like Wal-Mart isn't making any money here.

CARRIER: Exactly. Exactly.

COSTELLO: What about -- what about the widow, is she taking any action against Wal-Mart?

CARRIER: Oh yes.

ERICSON: Well she's become known as the Wal-Mart Widow, and she is suing Wal-Mart claiming that it didn't have the right to take out the life insurance policy on him. She didn't receive anything from this policy. Certainly there are valid points on both sides, but you would think Wal-Mart might share a little bit of the life insurance policy with the widow of this poor gentleman who passed away.

COSTELLO: Well, actually, the question I'd want to know is like they're paying all that money out to Wal-Mart, is that making my insurance premium go up?

CARRIER: Hey, that's a good point.

ERICSON: It probably would be, actually. I'm still trying to figure out how you come up with, because the benefit that was paid was $325,000. How do you -- how do you justify the training of a Wal-Mart employee for that kind of money if Wal-Mart's using that money to, you know, replace the employee?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CARRIER: How hard can it be to train someone to say hi, welcome to Wal-Mart?

COSTELLO: Now come on guys.

CARRIER: I mean...

COSTELLO: Hey, thanks very much, Mark and Danielle, very interesting stuff this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com