The US Supreme Court on Monday threw out a massive class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc — the biggest ever such case — in a major victory for the world’s largest retailer and for big business in general.
The justices unanimously ruled that more than 1 million female employees nationwide could not proceed together in the lawsuit seeking billions of US dollars and accusing Wal-Mart of paying women less and giving them fewer promotions.
The Supreme Court agreed with Wal-Mart, the largest private US employer, that the class-action certification violated US Federal rules for such lawsuits.
It accepted Wal-Mart’s argument that the female employees in different jobs at 3,400 different stores nationwide and with different supervisors do not have enough in common to be lumped together in a single class-action lawsuit.
The ruling was cheered by the US Chamber of Commerce business group as the most important class-action case in more than a decade, but denounced by women’s groups.
It represented a major victory for Wal-Mart, which also has faced legal battles including an attempt to unionize and to block the giant retailer from opening stores in New York and other places.
“We are pleased with today’s ruling and believe the court made the right decision. Wal-Mart has had strong policies against discrimination for many years,” the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said in a statement.
The court rejected class-action status, but three remaining female plaintiffs still can pursue their individual claims.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs acknowledged the ruling raised substantial hurdles to bring such challenges forward, but said that Wal-Mart may regret this route because it could lead to lengthier litigation in many more courtrooms.
“I think it is a big win for very large companies because I think part of the message from the majority’s decision is ... there are companies that are too big to be held accountable in a single forum for these kinds of practices,” said Joseph Sellers, a lawyer for the women who sued the retailer.
He said they were considering options that included pursuing class-action lawsuits with smaller groups of women or proceeding individually, adding that more than 12,000 people have contacted them about discrimination at Wal-Mart.
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