Wal-Mart wins right to appeal class action
Federal court to rule on sex discrimination suit
Wal-Mart was won the right to appeal against a US sex discrimination case against it being given class action status.
A federal appeals court has agreed to hear Wal-Mart’s appeal against the ruling, made by a San Francisco judge in June, that around 1.6m current and former female employees of the world’s biggest retailer are parties to a lawsuit 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. If allowed to proceed, legal experts have said it would be one the biggest such cases in legal history, with Wal-Mart potentially facing liabilities running into many millions.
The court did not give a date for the appeal hearing.
