Walmart

==== Corruption charges ====
<!-- Courtesy note per [[MOS:LINK2SECT]]: [[Corruption chargest against Walmart]] (sic, "chargest") redirects here. -->
An April 2012 investigation by ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported the allegations of a former executive of Walmart de Mexico that, in September 2005, the company had paid [[bribery|bribes]] via local fixers to officials throughout Mexico in exchange for construction permits, information, and other favors, which gave Walmart a substantial advantage over competitors.<ref name="NYTBribe">{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/business/at-wal-mart-in-mexico-a-bribe-inquiry-silenced.html |title = Vast Mexican Bribery Case Hushed Up by Walmart After High-Level Struggle |newspaper = The New York Times |first = David |last = Barstow |date = April 21, 2012 |access-date = April 22, 2012 |archive-date = September 10, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190910013428/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/business/at-wal-mart-in-mexico-a-bribe-inquiry-silenced.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Walmart investigators found credible evidence that Mexican and American laws had been broken. Concerns were also raised that Walmart executives in the United States had "hushed up" the allegations. A follow-up investigation by ''The New York Times'', published December 17, 2012, revealed evidence that regulatory permission for siting, construction, and operation of nineteen stores had been obtained through bribery. There was evidence that a bribe of {{US$|52,000}} was paid to change a zoning map, which enabled the opening of a Walmart store a mile from a historical site in [[San Juan Teotihuacán]] in 2004.<ref name="NYT92904">{{cite news |title = No, the Conquistadors Are Not Back. It's Just Walmart. |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/28/international/americas/28mexico.html |access-date = December 18, 2012 |newspaper = The New York Times |date = September 28, 2004 |author = James C. McKinley Jr. |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121218213105/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/28/international/americas/28mexico.html |archive-date = December 18, 2012}}</ref> After the initial article was released, Walmart released a statement denying the allegations and describing its anti-corruption policy. While an official Walmart report states that it had found no evidence of corruption, the article alleges that previous internal reports had indeed turned up such evidence before the story became public.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/lydiadishman/2012/04/22/walmart-in-mexico/ |title = What Walmart Might Do With Allegations of Bribery in Mexico |first = Lydia |last = Dishman |date = April 22, 2012 |access-date = April 23, 2012 |work = [[Forbes]] |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120423132905/http://www.forbes.com/sites/lydiadishman/2012/04/22/walmart-in-mexico/ |archive-date = April 23, 2012}}</ref> ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine contributor Adam Hartung also commented that the bribery scandal was a reflection of Walmart's "serious management and strategy troubles", stating, "[s]candals are now commonplace&nbsp;... [e]ach scandal points out that Walmart's strategy is harder to navigate and is running into big problems".<ref>{{cite news |last = Hartung |first = Adam |title = WalMart's Mexican Bribery Scandal Will Sink It Like an Iceberg Sank the Titanic |url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/04/26/walmarts-mexican-bribery-scandal-will-sink-it-like-the-icerberg-sank-the-titanic/ |work = Forbes |access-date = July 2, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120703221317/http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/04/26/walmarts-mexican-bribery-scandal-will-sink-it-like-the-icerberg-sank-the-titanic/ |archive-date = July 3, 2012}}</ref>

In 2012, there was an incident with CJ's Seafood, a crawfish processing firm in Louisiana that was partnered with Walmart, that eventually gained media attention for the mistreatment of its 40 H-2B visa workers from Mexico. These workers experienced harsh living conditions in tightly packed trailers outside of the work facility, physical threats, verbal abuse, and were forced to work day-long shifts. Many of the workers were afraid to take action about the abuse due to the fact that the manager threatened the lives of their family members in the U.S. and Mexico if the abuse were to be reported. Eight of the workers confronted management at CJ's Seafood about the mistreatment; however, the management denied the abuse allegations and the workers went on strike. The workers then took their stories to Walmart due to their partnership with CJ's. While Walmart was investigating the situation, the workers collected 150,000 signatures of supporters who agreed that Walmart should stand by the workers and take action. In June 2012, the visa workers held a protest and day-long hunger strike outside of the apartment building where a Walmart board member resided. Following this protest, Walmart announced its final decision to no longer work with CJ's Seafood. Less than a month later, the Department of Labor fined CJ's Seafood "approximately $460,000 in back-pay, safety violations, wage and hour violations, civil damages, and fines for abuses to the H-2B program. The company has since shut down."<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/mexican-guest-workers-gain-walmart-federal-response-louisiana-usa-2012 |title = Mexican guest workers gain Walmart, federal response, Louisiana, USA, 2012 |last = Capron |first = Christopher |date = November 11, 2012 |website = Global Nonviolent Action Database |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170929000345/https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/mexican-guest-workers-gain-walmart-federal-response-louisiana-usa-2012 |archive-date = September 29, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date = September 28, 2017}}</ref>

{{As of|2012|December|df=US|post=,}} internal investigations were ongoing into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.<ref name="NYT121712">{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/business/walmart-bribes-teotihuacan.html |title = The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Got Its Way in Mexico |work = The New York Times |date = December 17, 2012 |access-date = April 29, 2013 |author1 = Barstow, David |author2 = von Bertrab, Alejandra Xanic |author-link1 = David Barstow |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130322234030/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/business/walmart-bribes-teotihuacan.html |archive-date = March 22, 2013}}</ref> Walmart has invested {{US$|99&nbsp;million}} on internal investigations, which expanded beyond Mexico to implicate operations in China, Brazil, and India.<ref name="Clifford 12">{{cite news |title = Wal-Mart inquiry reflects alarm on corruption |last1 = Clifford |first1 = Stephanie |last2 = Barnstow |first2 = David |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/business/wal-mart-expands-foreign-bribery-investigation.html |newspaper = The New York Times |date = November 15, 2012 |access-date = February 28, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150925051846/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/business/wal-mart-expands-foreign-bribery-investigation.html |archive-date = September 25, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Brown 12">{{cite news |title = Wal-Mart bribery probe expands past Mexico to Brazil, China and India |last1 = Brown |first1 = Abram |url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2012/11/15/probe-into-wal-mart-bribery-past-mexico-to-brazil-china-and-india/ |magazine = Forbes |date = November 15, 2012 |access-date = February 28, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304132316/http://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2012/11/15/probe-into-wal-mart-bribery-past-mexico-to-brazil-china-and-india/#6973d1417561 |archive-date = March 4, 2016}}</ref> The case has added fuel to the debate as to whether foreign investment will result in increased prosperity, or if it merely allows local retail trade and economic policy to be taken over by "foreign financial and corporate interests".<ref name="Sharma 12">{{cite news |title = India government agency probes Wal-Mart investments |last1 = Sharma |first1 = Malavika |url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-12-05/india-government-agency-probes-wal-mart-investments |magazine = Bloomberg |date = December 5, 2012 |access-date = February 28, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160314064550/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-12-05/india-government-agency-probes-wal-mart-investments |archive-date = March 14, 2016}}</ref><ref name="NYTIndia">{{cite news |last1 = Thirani |first1 = Neha |last2 = Kumar |first2 = Hari |title = Fact-Checking the F.D.I. Debates |url = http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/fact-checking-the-f-d-i-debates/ |access-date = December 28, 2012 |newspaper = The New York Times / International Herald Tribune |date = December 7, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121212010207/http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/fact-checking-the-f-d-i-debates/ |archive-date = December 12, 2012}}</ref>