Wal-Mart in US top court over largest sex bias case
WASHINGTON: Wal-Mart Stores Inc will argue on Tuesday that the US Supreme Court should halt the largest class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit in history by female employees who seek billions of dollars.
The female employees will counter that their lawsuit should be allowed to go to trial against the world's largest retailer for allegedly paying women less and giving them fewer promotions than men at 3,400 US stores since late 1998. At issue in the Supreme Court showdown is whether the small group of women who began the lawsuit 10 years ago can represent a huge nationwide class of current and former employees that could total millions of women.
The Supreme Court's ruling, expected by late June, could change the legal landscape for workplace and other class-action lawsuits, affecting many other cases, including a similar one against Costco Wholesale Corp . Wal-Mart's attorney, Theodore Boutrous, who will argue the case, said female employees in different jobs and in different stores do not have enough in common to be in a single class-action lawsuit.
Joseph Sellers, an attorney for the women, will argue the decision by a judge and a US appeals court to certify the class was based on extensive evidence, and should be upheld.
Betty Dukes, a Wal-Mart employee in Pittsburg, California, for whom the case has been named, planned to attend oral arguments. "Without a class action, I wouldn't be able to do anything about the discrimination. Wal-Mart is just too big. A class action gives us a fair shot. That is all we ask for," Dukes said. Reuters
The female employees will counter that their lawsuit should be allowed to go to trial against the world's largest retailer for allegedly paying women less and giving them fewer promotions than men at 3,400 US stores since late 1998. At issue in the Supreme Court showdown is whether the small group of women who began the lawsuit 10 years ago can represent a huge nationwide class of current and former employees that could total millions of women.
The Supreme Court's ruling, expected by late June, could change the legal landscape for workplace and other class-action lawsuits, affecting many other cases, including a similar one against Costco Wholesale Corp . Wal-Mart's attorney, Theodore Boutrous, who will argue the case, said female employees in different jobs and in different stores do not have enough in common to be in a single class-action lawsuit.
Joseph Sellers, an attorney for the women, will argue the decision by a judge and a US appeals court to certify the class was based on extensive evidence, and should be upheld.
Betty Dukes, a Wal-Mart employee in Pittsburg, California, for whom the case has been named, planned to attend oral arguments. "Without a class action, I wouldn't be able to do anything about the discrimination. Wal-Mart is just too big. A class action gives us a fair shot. That is all we ask for," Dukes said. Reuters
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