Wal-Mart facing sex discrimination action
Judge allows class action by female employees
Wal-Mart is facing one of the biggest civil right actions in legal history after a US judge certified a class action suit over allegations that the retailer has discriminated against female employees.
The ruling means that around 1.6m current and former female employees of the world’s biggest retailer are parties to a lawsuit, Betty Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, originally filed in 2001 by six women. The suit alleges that Wal-Mart has discriminated against women employees in areas such as pay, promotion and training.
In San Francisco, District Court Judge Martin Jenkins certified the class includes women who had worked for Wal-Mart’s US stores at any time since December 26, 1998.
Wal-Mart has always denied that there is any discrimination in its employment policies, arguing that the number of men in management positions reflects the number of applications it receives from men.
Brad Seligman, lead attorney for the six plaintiffs, said in a statement “Up until now, Wal-Mart has never faced a trial like this. Lawsuits by individual women had no more effect than a pinprick. Now, however, the playing field has been leveled.”
Most large class-action lawsuits in the United States are settled before they go to trial. If Wal-mart takes that course, it potentially faces paying out hundreds of millions of dollars, according to some estimates.
Wal-Mart spokesperson Mona Williams said: “Let’s keep in mind that today’s ruling has absolutely nothing to do with the merits of the case. Judge Jenkins is simply saying he thinks it meets the legal requirements necessary to move forward as a class action. We strongly disagree with his decision and will seek an appeal.
“While we cannot comment on the specifics of the litigation, we can say we continue to evaluate our employment practices. For example, earlier this month Wal-Mart announced a new job classification and pay structure for hourly associates. This new pay plan was developed with the assistance of third party consultants and is designed to ensure internal equity and external competitiveness.”
