Walmart says store mishandled holiday layaway donation from Bears’ Khalil Mack

Walmart employees did not properly handle an $80,000 Christmas donation Bears linebacker Khalil Mack’s foundation made to pay off layaways at his hometown Fort Pierce, Florida, store, a company spokesperson told TCPalm.com.

“We have determined the store did not handle the transaction in keeping with Walmart’s guidelines and have taken corrective action,” company spokesperson Delia Garcia told TCPalm last week, but she would not elaborate on the error or corrective action.

Walmart found the “transaction” was flawed, but employees didn’t “misuse” the donation, Garcia said, after TCPalm reported otherwise.

Some employees benefited from the donation, a spokesperson acknowledged, but TCPalm doesn’t know whether they already had layaways before the donation was made or whether they went shopping after the fact. TCPalm also doesn’t know whether the foundation knew and approved of employees benefiting from the donation.

The foundation did not respond to TCPalm’s emails seeking comment. There is no phone number on its website, and Mack’s father did not return TCPalm’s phone messages.

Garcia acknowledged layaways totaled $60,000 when the $80,000 donation was made and said a “representative” of the foundation — not the foundation itself — knew and approved of employees benefiting, presumably from the $20,000 balance, if not more.

The donation covered over 300 layaway accounts, said Mathias Libardi, manager of the Fort Pierce store. Neither he nor Garcia would say whether that included employees who’d already purchased items on layaway, how many employees ultimately benefited or whether managers were among the employees.

Mack was not aware of how the money was being spent and a Walmart employee who didn’t benefit from the donation alerted company officials, who investigated, Fox 32 Chicago reported Dec. 19.

Walmart would not tell TCPalm whether any employees were disciplined or, if so, how. Fox 32 reported employees and managers were suspended pending the investigation.

Mack graduated from Fort Pierce Westwood High School in 2009.

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