This is one of the most despicable, inhumane stories I've seen about Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) in awhile, courtesy of (subscription required) the Wall Street Journal.

Basically, a woman was left with permanent brain damage at the age of 45 after an accident with a semi-trailer truck. She was recently awarded a $700,000 settlement but then her employer, Wal-Mart, sued her for the money to reimburse itself for the money it spent on her medical costs.

I'm not a lawyer. I don't know about the legality here, but think about this: this poor lady's husband has to work two jobs now, and she is left alone in a nursing home far more than he would like her to be. And it's all because Wal-Mart needed $700,000 to recoup what it spent on an employee's medical care. Wal-Mart made $11,284,000,000 in fiscal year 2007. This lady is spending time alone in a nursing home so the company could recoup $700,000.

At the very least, this is more horrible PR for Wal-Mart, and we shouldn't let them get away with it. Wal-Mart needs to learn that treating people badly is no way to boost the stock price.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) may be looking to play nice with labor unions after all. The world's largest retailer and three other major U.S. employers on Wednesday actually joined hands with union leaders in setting a goal of providing "quality, affordable" health care for millions of workers by 2012. What does this all mean? Well, Wal-Mart's name will be connected with efforts to reach those without current medical coverage, most likely.

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott and Service Employees International Union leader Andrew Stern joined hands and sang gleeful songs ... err, talked at a press conference where top executives from Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Kelly Services were in attendance. The main goals of this bunch over the coming years was lauded as ensuring every person in America (citizens and non-citizens, I guess) had access to universal health-care coverage in addition to seeking to raise the actual value the country receives from all spending on every health care dollar.

Something that I agree with was actually said by Wal-Mart CEO Scott when he stated "Government alone won't and can't solve this crisis." Even though this was parroted by several upcoming U.S. Presidential candidates, unless the money floats out of the air somehow, paying for universal health care for everyone in the country from a governmental perspective ... will take money from somewhere else (which is yet to be defined). Hey, but most of us are all ears, right?