- The family of a Walmart worker who killed himself has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the retailer.
- The suit claimed employee Jacob Mace was able to buy a shotgun from the Walmart store where he worked.
- This is despite Mace's manager knowing that Mace had said he wanted to kill himself, the suit said.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The family of a Walmart worker who killed himself at the end of 2019 has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the retail giant.
Jacob Mace had recently told a Walmart colleague he was having suicidal thoughts, the lawsuit said. Mace's manager was aware of the conversation, but Mace was still able to buy a shotgun from the Southern Maryland Walmart store where he worked, his family said in the lawsuit filed Tuesday, which was first reported by NBC News.
The family of the Walmart maintenance worker also claimed Walmart was told Mace had been diagnosed with depression.
"One of the most important laws that Walmart agreed to follow included, but is not limited to, Maryland's prohibition on the possession of a shotgun by an individual suffering from mental disorder," the suit said.
The family said that Mace was found to have depression while working at Walmart, and missed several days of work because of his illness. The lawsuit said he gave his supervisor letters from hospital visits. These letters did not specify why he was at the hospital, but the suit said that Mace discussed his mental illness with his supervisor in person.
Several days before his death, Mace sent a text message to a coworker saying that he planned to kill himself, the lawsuit claimed.
According to the lawsuit, a screenshot of this message was sent to Mace's supervisor, who then said he'd look into adding Mace to a list of people banned from buying guns at Walmart. Mace was never added to the list, the suit said.
Walmart spokesperson Randy Hargrove told Insider that the company was "heartbroken" by Mace's death, and that its thoughts were with Mace's family.
"We are committed to being a responsible firearms dealer and take these allegations seriously. Out of respect for everyone involved and because this matter is in litigation, we are not going to discuss the details of this case outside of court," Hargrove said.
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