Chesapeake Walmart worker hits store with $50 million lawsuit for hiring and continuing to employ Andre Bing who shot dead six colleagues - claiming it KNEW he was a 'cruel manager' whose 'behavior was strange'
- Chesapeake Walmart Supercenter employee Donya Prioleau filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for employing Andre Bing
- Bing, 31, is the shooter from last week's Walmart rampage that saw six murdered before the gunman turn the weapon on himself
- Prioleau described Bing as a 'cruel manager' with 'propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior'
- The lawsuit claims Bing made allusions to a mass shooting, bragged about running over a turtle with a lawnmower, and cursed out co-workers
- Prioleau, who hurt her knee escaping the bloody scene, added the Bing made several inappropriate comments about her age and gender
A Walmart employee who survived the mass shooting in Virginia has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for employing the shooter, Andre Bing.
Bing, 31, a supervisor for the Chesapeake store, 'had known propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior' before he opened fire on his colleagues, killing six and then turned the gun on himself.
The lawsuit, which appears to be the first to stem from the shooting, was filed Tuesday in Chesapeake Circuit Court by Donya Prioleau, a staffer who was in the breakroom where the shooting began and bashed her knee when escaping.
Prioleau's suit alleges that she has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, including physical and emotional distress, from witnessing the rampage, where the youngest victim was revealed to be a 16-year-old boy.
'Bullets whizzed by Plaintiff Donya Prioleau's face and left side, barely missing her,' the lawsuit states. 'She witnessed several of her coworkers being brutally murdered on either side of her.'
The lawsuit adds: 'Ms. Prioleau looked at one of her coworkers in the eyes right after she had been shot in the neck. Ms. Prioleau saw the bullet wound in her coworker's neck, the blood rushing out of it, and the shocked look on her coworker's helpless face.'
Donya Prioleau (pictured outside the Chesapeake Walmart Supercenter in the wake of the shooting) filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for employing Andre Bing
Bing, 31, is the shooter from last week's Walmart rampage and has been described as a notoriously known as a 'cruel manager' who needed to be avoided
Bing allegedly made open threats and allusions to the shooting he would conduct, which took the lives of six co-workers. Pictured: A vigil for the victims staged outside the Walmart
Her lawsuit offers fresh details of the terrifying attack and provides a long list of troubling signs displayed by the shooter that she claims managers failed to address.
The lawsuit alleges that Bing 'had a personal vendetta against several Walmart employees and kept a 'kill list' of potential targets prior to the shooting, which was found by DailyMail.com.
The list is in reference to a 'death note' found on Bing's phone and released Friday by authorities. The note appeared to contain specific references to people he worked with, but authorities redacted their names.
Bing was a Walmart team leader who had worked for the company since 2010. He was responsible for managing the overnight stocking crew, including Prioleau, who started her job in May 2021, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit claims management knew or should have known about Bing's disturbing behavior and lists several instances of alarming conduct.
'Prior to the shooting, Mr. Bing repeatedly asked coworkers if they had received their active shooter training,' the suit states. 'When coworkers responded that they had, Mr. Bing just smiled and walked away without saying anything.'
Bing 'made comments to other Walmart employees and managers suggesting that he would be violent if fired or disciplined,' according to the suit, which also says Bing 'was disciplined leading up to the shooting, making his violent outburst predictable.'
The suit goes on to claim that Bing told employees that if we was ever fired, 'he would retaliate,' and told co-workers that if it should come to that, 'People will remember my name.'
In another instance, Bing told co-workers 'he ran over a turtle with a lawnmower just to see its (guts) spray out, which made him hungry and reminded him of ramen noodles,' the lawsuit says.
Bing was previously disciplined for bad behavior and harassing employees, but Walmart 'kept employing him anyway,' the suit says.
The suit ultimately states that 'Andre Bing had a long-standing reputation for being a cruel manager and was known as a manager to avoid.'
Walmart, which is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, did not immediately respond to a written request seeking comment on the litigation.
The lawsuit claims Bing 'had known propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior' and says Walmart failed to address the supervisor's problems
Pictured: Donya walking to the crime scene with FBI investigators in tow. She had injured her knee when fleeing the scene where she saw six of her co-workers shot in front of her
In her court filing, Prioleau states that she and her mother attempted to take action against Bing.
Prioleau had submitted a formal complaint on a Walmart Global Ethics Statement Form indicating that Bing had 'bizarrely and inappropriately commented on Ms. Prioleau's age,' the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit alleges that Bing told her: 'Isn´t your lady clock ticking? Shouldn't you be having kids?'
Prioleau also complained that Bing had harassed her for 'being poor and being short,' according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that she also informed Walmart that Bing called her a 'bitch' under his breath.
In September, Prioleau's mother expressed concerns to a Walmart manager about her daughter's safety 'because it appeared their concerns were falling on deaf ears,' the lawsuit states.
The manager said 'there was nothing that could be done about Mr. Bing because he was liked by management,' according to the suit.
A vigil was held for the victims of the shooting on Monday night in Chesapeake
The event honored the six who died, including a 16-year-old boy
The gunman opened fire in the break room which is in the back of the store at around 10.12pm on November 22
Before the shooting, Bing told co-workers that 'the government was watching him,' the suit says. 'He kept black tape on his phone camera so no one could spy on him.'
In the note left on his phone, Bing claimed he was harassed and said he was pushed to the brink by a perception that his phone was hacked. The note also accused colleagues of mocking him.
Bing's death note rambles at times through 11 paragraphs, with references to nontraditional cancer treatments and songwriting. He says people unfairly compared him to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Jessica Wilczewski, a Walmart employee who witnessed the shooting, told the AP last week that Bing seemed to target certain people.
'The way he was acting - he was going hunting,' she said.
Wilczewski had only worked at the store for five days when the manager opened fire, and she described how she took cover under a table as the gunman 'laughed' while several of her co-workers were shot.
Wilczewski said the manager then briefly stopped shooting, turned and pointed the gun at her. He reportedly told her to get out from under the table and said: 'Jessie, go home.'
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