Taneka Talley's Son To Get Benefits Previously Denied by Dollar Tree

From the Mercury News:

FAIRFIELD, Calif.—Retail discount chain Dollar Tree has agreed to pay death benefits for a Fairfield employee who was stabbed to death at work, after the company initially denied the claim.
Tommy Joe Thompson is facing trial on charges of killing 26-year-old Taneka Talley in March 2006 while she was stocking shelves at a Dollar Tree store.

At a pretrial hearing, a psychiatrist said Thompson admitted he attacked Talley because she was black. Thompson is white.

The discount chain's insurer used that statement to deny benefits under California's workers' compensation laws, saying the killing was motivated by race and not work-related.

But Chesapeake, Va.-based Dollar Tree reversed course Monday, saying it would pay the full benefits—a minimum of $250,000.

Talley's mother said the change was motivated by public outrage over the initial denial.

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