A landmark sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc may proceed as a class-action case, a federal appeals court said, dealing the retailer a major blow and exposing it to billions of dollars of potential damages.
More than 1 million women could be included in the class, after the 6-5 ruling by the Ninth Circuit court on Monday.
Wal-Mart said it would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The original lawsuit, hailed by lawyers as the largest sex discrimination class-action in U.S. history when it was filed in 2001, claimed that Wal-Mart paid female workers less than male colleagues and gave them fewer promotions.
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer and largest private U.S. employer, had asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to undo class-action certification in the case that alleged discrimination in its more than 3,000 stores.
The focus of this post is not on the specific issue pertaining to the case itself. What I wish to draw your attention to is the part I featured in bold. Here we are in the Spring of 2010 dealing with a lawsuit filed 9 YEARS AGO. Since the case most assuredly will wind up on a US Supreme Court docket, it may well be 10 years or more before the plaintiffs and defendant f-i-n-a-l-l-y have their day in court.
For me, this is one of the gross injustices of our vaunted system. Major corporations with deep, deep pockets can delay trials almost indefinitely. In cases involving people allegedly made sick by company products or procedures, these delaying tactics often work so well because the plaintiff dies off before the case ever makes its way back to the trial court!
In the case cited above, let's entertain the thought that Wal-Mart is guiltier than sin. If this class action suit is not thrown out or the plaintiffs don't settle beforehand, it could be well over a decade or more before the injured parties get justice. All the while Wal-Mart is reaping in billions upon billions of dollars in revenue.
I'm fairly certain none of the plaintiffs can say that!!
For me, this is one of the gross injustices of our vaunted system. Major corporations with deep, deep pockets can delay trials almost indefinitely. In cases involving people allegedly made sick by company products or procedures, these delaying tactics often work so well because the plaintiff dies off before the case ever makes its way back to the trial court!
In the case cited above, let's entertain the thought that Wal-Mart is guiltier than sin. If this class action suit is not thrown out or the plaintiffs don't settle beforehand, it could be well over a decade or more before the injured parties get justice. All the while Wal-Mart is reaping in billions upon billions of dollars in revenue.
I'm fairly certain none of the plaintiffs can say that!!
Walmart is evil. Unfortunately it's still just a symptom of how deep our problems really run. The only good news is the rich are slightly less evil than they used to be, they aren't allowed to hire knights to just come pillage your farm anymore. Now they just trick people into shopping against their best interests.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, I don't patronize Walmart.
Wal-Mart guilty!!!??? By the time the lawsuit is over, China will own us all and we will all have no choice but to work and shop at the company store!
ReplyDelete