Wal-Mart Asks Supreme Court to Block Gender Bias Suit

Mammoth suit shouldn't go to trial, company argues
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 26, 2010 5:00 AM CDT
Wal-Mart Asks Supreme Court to Block Gender Bias Suit
A sharply divided federal appeals court ruled earlier this year that a massive class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart alleging gender discrimination can go to trial.    (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

America's biggest retailer wants the Supreme Court to reverse a decision exposing it to America's biggest class-action employment lawsuit. Wal-Mart has asked the court to overturn a decision from a lower court allowing a massive gender discrimination suit against it to proceed, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The plaintiff class could number up to 1.5 million female Wal-Mart employees.

The suit alleges that Wal-Mart paid women less than men and passed them over for promotions that went to men. "The class is larger than the active-duty personnel in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard combined making it the largest employment class action in history by several orders of magnitude," a Wal-Mart lawyer complained. The court is unlikely to take up the case until next year.
(More Walmart stories.)

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