• 30
  • August
    2010

In 2001, six female employees sued Wal-Mart for sexual discrimination, claiming that female workers had less opportunity for promotion and were paid less than male workers doing same jobs. A true case of David versus Goliath, those odds have now shifted.

Today, 1.5 million female employees are participating in a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart, citing gender-based discrimination in regards to a number of issues.

Throughout the proceedings, Wal-Mart has denied any wrongdoing or any discrepancy in pay. Even when it agreed to pay out upwards of $640 million in 2008 to settle a class action wage and hour lawsuit, the retail giant denied that it had cheated workers out of any wages.

This new class action, which was recently given the green light to proceed by an "en banc panel of the 9th Circuit," has shaken even Wal-Mart's steadfastness.

This month, Wal-Mart asked the United States Supreme Court to intervene in the lawsuit, claiming that there were simply too many claimants and too many various claims to be adequately addressed via class action status.

It also pointed out that the number of current and former employees involved in the class action lawsuit totaled greater than "the active-duty personnel in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard combined."

On the opposite side, those working with the plaintiffs claim that the class action is only unique because of its size. In terms of the combined issues and actions sought, the lawsuit fits the general definition of such a case.

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