Wal-Mart on losing end of decision regarding sex-discrimination lawsuit
April 26th, 2010 by Wendi Lewis
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has opened the door for millions of women who claim retail discount giant Wal-Mart discriminated against female employees. A class-action lawsuit originally filed in 2001 claims the retailer paid its female employees less than male employees doing the same job, and gave fewer promotions to women employees. The class-action could involve more than 1 million women.
According to a report by Reuters, the San Francisco court determined the lawsuit can proceed as a class action, covering claims made by women who have worked at Wal-Mart since June 2001. The news agency reports that a lower court will have to decide whether women who worked for Wal-Mart between 1998 and 2001 are eligible to join the class.
The case has been appealed three times since it was originally filed in San Francisco federal court in 2001. Wal-Mart lost two previous rulings in trial court and was defeated again in appeals court in 2007. According to a report on CNBC, Wal-Mart had argued that women who allege discrimination should file individual lawsuits, claiming there would be too many litigants in a class action to defend. The court disagreed, although it was by no means a unanimous decision – the court was split 6-5 on the vote to allow the case to proceed as a class action.
Plaintiffs in the case allege Wal-Mart directed female employees away from management positions and did not provide them with opportunities for advancement. Wal-Mart argues that decisions about promotions and pay raises are at the discretion of its managers, not the company.
This case has been touted as the largest sex-discrimination class-action lawsuit in U.S. history.