Walmart Class Action

August 30th, 2010 by Admin

Walmart Class action

The landmark sex discrimination lawsuit has been given class action status as of April 2010, in a big victory for the plaintiffs. Now, the Walmart class action is currently being weighed as to whether to include women who worked at the retail giant from 1998 to 2001. The United States’ largest private employer appealed the class action status a few times, but so far to no avail. The Walmart class action sticks, to the dismay of Walmart lawyers.

Walmart is the world’s largest retailer, with over three thousands stores in the United States. About a million women are possible affected by the Walmart class action, which alleges sex discrimination. Plaintiffs argue that Walmart pays women less and promotes them less often than men. If they lose, Walmart stands to lose billions of dollars.

A lower court will decide whether women who worked at Walmart from 1998 to 2001 can join the Walmart class action. Lower courts will also decide whether punitive damages will be part of the Walmart class action.

According to the plaintiffs, women were more often than not steered away from management jobs. They were encouraged to remain in cashier jobs, with little or no chance of promotion. Excuses for not qualifying women into management positions included not being able to move a fifty pound bag of dog food.

All this comes after Walmart has tried for years to upgrade its image with the public. From supplying disaster relief to stressing eco friendly practices in its business, Walmart has tried in various ways to convince the public that it cares for its employees and the population in general. This is a huge setback in the PR department.

Experts in class action lawsuits say that with its new status, the Walmart class action means there is great pressure on the retail giant to settle.