Supreme Court Quells Wal-Mart Class Action

Source

I haven't seen this yet on US news sources (though it's from 3 days ago) and didn't find it in the ATS search.

Walmart and its more than 20 corporate supporters, including Bank of America, Microsoft, Intel, FedEx, and General Electric are claiming victory after the US Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, threw out what would have been the largest sex discrimination class action lawsuit in US history.

The suit included more than 1.6 million current & former female employees.

The statistics seem to speak for themselves:

Dr Richard Drogin, the plaintiff's statistical expert, found that across the country, women employees are paid less than men in virtually every job.

Akin Gump, a law firm hired by Walmart in 1995, found that men were five and a half times as likely as women to be promoted into salaried management positions, yet the company ignored advice to take remedial steps and continued its practices.

I found this particularly disturbing:

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the four dissenters, pointed out that women fill 70 per cent of hourly jobs, but make up only 33 per cent of management employees. She acknowledged that the "plaintiffs' evidence, including class members' tales of their own experiences, suggests that gender bias suffused Walmart's company culture".

And just one personal story - there are hundreds just like it:

When a female employee with five years at Walmart and a Master's Degree asked her department manager why her pay was less than that of a just-hired 17-year-old boy, the manager said: "You don't have the right equipment. You aren't male, so you can't expect to be paid the same."

Other examples include women being told they are second class to men because "Adam was created first", and being told to "doll-up" their makeup.

But despite rampant and overwhelming evidence - and the fact that Wal-Mart's own consultants told them to shape up years ago - the women won't have their day in court. DISGUSTING.

reply to post by Schkeptick


stop shopping at wal-mart. i did.

reply to post by Schkeptick


How much more proof do we need that even the courts work for the Corporations, not the people who pay for them??

The nearest WalMart to me is several thousand miles away; haven't shopped at one since last August.

The Supreme Court has had several decisions lately putting down class-actions suits in favor of corporations. I'm not for frivolous law suits at all, but class action suits are sometimes the ONLY way to get a company's attention.

I agree - America belongs to corporations (& unions).