Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) asked the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling which allowed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the company had discriminated against female employees.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, located in San Francisco, upheld certain portions of a class-certification order in the lawsuit, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., back in April. However, the court did reduce the size of the class by as much as 66%. Wal-Mart said that it disagreed with the decision and would seek review from the Supreme Court.
Wal-Mart filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to review the ruling on Wednesday, saying that the lower court’s opinion is in opposition to previous Supreme Court decisions and rulings by other appellate courts.
“This case goes far beyond the parties and has implications for all businesses,” he said.
Joseph Sellers, a lawyer for the Plaintiffs in the suit, said that the court’s ruling is “well within the mainstream jurisprudence that the courts have recognized and followed for decades. Only the size of the case is unusual, and that is a product of the size of Wal-Mart and the breadth of the discrimination we detected and documented.”
The case began nearly 10 years ago when California Wal-Mart employee Betty Dukes said that she was denied the training to seek a higher-paying job because of her sex. The lawsuit cites studies that female Wal-Mart employees earn between 5% and 15% less than their male counterparts for the same jobs.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Walmart) operates retail stores. The Company operates in three business segments: Walmart U.S., International and Sam’s Club. During the fiscal year ended January 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), The Walmart U.S. segment accounted for 63.8% of its net sales, and operated retail stores in different formats in the United States, as well as Walmart’s online retail operations, walmart.com. The International segment consists of retail operations in 14 countries and Puerto Rico. During fiscal 2010, the segment generated 24.7% of the Company’s net sales. The International segment includes different formats of retail stores and restaurants, including discount stores, supercenters and Sam’s Clubs that operate outside the United States. The Sam’s Club segment consists of membership warehouse clubs in the United States and the segment’s online retail operations, samsclub.com. During fiscal 2010, Sam’s Club accounted for 11.5% of its net sales.
Shares of WMT traded up 0.12% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.97.
