Good News! Case Against Wal-Mart Gets a Green Light

by NOW Staff

The case against Wal-Mart moved forward last week when the California Supreme Court refused to reconsider the certification of class action status made by an Alameda county judge. The California class action suit is one of the largest of about 20 cases across the country against Wal-Mart. In this statewide claim, employees say they were forced by management to work without rest and meal breaks, and some allege they were locked in the store overnight to continue working after they clocked out.

NOW's Women Friendly Workplace campaign named Wal-Mart a "Merchant of Shame" in 2002 in response to the company's growing list of unfair labor practices. Since that time, NOW activists have been conducting an education campaign at Wal-Mart stores throughout the country. Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the United States and has been charged in the largest employment discrimination lawsuit in history.

"NOW looks forward to the California case going to trial in September," said NOW Action Vice President Olga Vives. "These workers deserve justice and Wal-Mart needs to learn that corporate greed does not pay in the long run."

The number of current and former workers represented in the California case could be as high as 230,000, according to the lawyer representing the class. Another sex-discrimination suit against Wal-Mart is still waiting on certification of a nationwide class of plaintiffs. If it receives class status, that case could involve as many 1.5 million women workers who have charged the retail giant with denying them raises and promotions.

Wal-Mart's way of doing business—paying employees the lowest possible wages with the fewest possible benefits in order to keep its prices super low—has elbowed other stores out of business, while spreading its unfriendly practices to other major chains. In addition, Wal-Mart has donated more than $1 million of its money to Republicans over the past two years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

"If this country is to set an example for the world of how to treat workers fairly, then the employees of the largest retailer and employer in the United States must be paid a living wage and offered affordable health care," said Vives. "The Wal-Mart 'model' of unfair labor practices and discrimination must not be followed by other companies. I applaud these workers for standing up for their rights against this corporate bully."