Wal-Mart discrimination case heading to Supreme Court
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WASHINGTON -- More than 100 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. workers paint a similar picture in sworn complaints about the company: Local managers made sexist decisions about promotions and pay, and top officials did nothing to stop them.
The Supreme Court is poised to consider whether those allegations warrant a class-action suit of unprecedented size, potentially on behalf of more than 1 million female Wal-Mart workers. At issue is whether the claims point to a companywide practice of alleged discrimination or instead amount to isolated anecdotes at a company with almost 1.4 million employees.
The case, set for argument March 29, marks the court's first look in 12 years at the standards for certifying a class action. Worker advocates say a victory for Wal-Mart would crush efforts to force change at companies steeped in bias, while corporate groups say a ruling allowing the suit might unleash a wave of employment, antitrust and product-liability suits.
"It has a huge impact for large employers," said Lisa Blatt, a Washington appellate lawyer at Arnold & Porter who filed a brief supporting Wal-Mart for the company-backed Retail Litigation Center. "If you're an employer with a million people, you're subject to these nationwide, massive, sprawling lawsuits."
By any measure, the suit against Wal-Mart is massive, threatening the country's largest private employer with billions of dollars in damages. Filed in 2001, the suit aims to cover every woman who worked at the retailer's Wal-Mart and Sam's Club's stores at any point since December 1998, including those not hired until years after the suit was filed.
In letting the suit go forward, a federal appeals court said the class would consist of 500,000 women, a number that included only current employees. In certifying the class in 2004, a trial judge said the group had more than 1.5 million members, including former employees. Both figures may be low given that Wal-Mart says it has employed 3 million women since the 2004 order.
First Published March 20, 2011 12:00 am
