Dukes v. Wal-Mart Store, Inc. (2003)
Topics: Workers Rights & Wages | Lawsuits
In August of 2005, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments on Wal- Mart’s policy of sexual discrimination against women. The lawsuit, based on statistical disparities in pay and promotion, was certified a year ago to represent 1.6 million present and former female employees, and is the largest class action lawsuit and civil rights case against a private employer in U.S. history. Largely uncontested descriptive statistics showed that women working in Wal-Mart stores are paid less than men in every region, that pay disparities exist in most job categories, that the salary gap widens over time even for men and women hired into the same jobs at the same time, that women take longer to enter into management positions, and that the higher one looks in the organization the lower the percentage of women. In its latest attempt to have the class-action status decertified the company argues its constitutional right to due process: to defend the claim of each class member individually. If the Court of Appeals affirms the class certification decision, the case will proceed to trial in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Jocelyn Larkin, an attorney with the Berkeley-based The Impact Fund, who co-authored the plaintiffs’ brief explains Wal-Mart’s strategy: “Wal-Mart’s request for appeal is a desperate attempt to derail the case before it gets to a jury. If the Ninth Circuit denies the requested appeal, the next stop is a courtroom where Wal-Mart will finally have to face the music.”
