CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Walmart lawyers are in the process of trying to move three mass-shooting-related lawsuits from local Chesapeake courts into federal ones.
Each lawsuit centers on the shooting that happened at the Sam's Circle Walmart in Chesapeake, just two days before Thanksgiving.
On Nov. 22, a team lead opened fire in the break room, killing six people and then himself. Several other people were hurt in the chaos.
Since that day, employees Donya Prioleau, James Kelly and Briana Marie Tyler have all sued the company, pointing to times they reported Andre Bing to human resources for inappropriate workplace behavior and concerning statements.
Each of those survivors are asking for $50 million in damages.
In the latest legal move, Walmart filed several requests to have these trials decided by a jury. They also requested they be "removed" to federal court.
What is Walmart arguing?
In the last week, Walmart's lawyers have filed motions with the Chesapeake court system to dismiss certain claims in all three suits and move those filings to district court.
The main grounds Walmart's lawyers are pointing to are a "lack of jurisdiction" and "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."
To translate the legalese, that means Walmart is saying these employees are looking for help in the wrong places, and that they haven't proved Walmart's actions were wrong.
The company said the employees who filed these lawsuits could and should be getting help for injuries through the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act -- and only from that Act.
Lawyers filed paperwork to say that the plaintiffs haven't proved "negligent hiring and retention of an employee" claims. To do that, they'd have to prove that Walmart knew, when they hired Bing, that he was a danger.
Walmart said Bing had worked for them 10 years, and all evidence of violence and mental health problems surfaced after they hired him.
The corporate lawyers are also trying to shoot down "respondeat superior liability" claims. Essentially, that's the legal theory that companies are responsible for the actions of their employees while they're at work, working.
Walmart's lawyers said the gunman's attack, while horrifying, wasn't a "job-related service," so they shouldn't be held liable under the respondeat category.
RELATED: LAWSUIT: Walmart employee, survivor says she reported gunman's concerning behavior months ago
How can Walmart lawyers move the lawsuits?
There are two requirements for moving a case to federal court -- the two parties have to have "diversity of citizenship," meaning they have to be from different states, and the amount of money in dispute has to be at least $75,000.
Walmart's lawyers argued Kelly, Prioleau and Tyler are Virginia citizens, but Walmart headquarters are based in other states, so that meets the location requirement.
Also, the amount of money the employees are asking for is $50 million each, which is well above the threshold of $75,000.
How are the employees responding in court?
Tyler, Kelly and Prioleau's lawyers have all filed motions to submit amended complaints after turning in their initial cases to Chesapeake Circuit Court.
Kelly's letter, specifically, says they want to give more "factual and legal allegations" based on new information about what Walmart knew about Andre Bing before the deadly shooting.
The court has to decide whether or not to accept these more detailed complaints, and then decide if they justify the legal claims Walmart wants dismissed.