America’s love-hate relationship with Wal-Mart may have reached a zenith this spring when the discount chain won its case seeking nearly half a million dollars from a former shelf-stocker left brain-damaged after a car accident.

The company has found a way out of its public-relations nightmare involving Deborah Shank of Jackson, Mo. But questions remain about how it got there and what this might mean for the rest of us. It might be hard to summon much sympathy for a corporation that rakes in billions of dollars annually in profit. But a closer look might generate a degree of understanding.