Wal-Mart’s Female Employees Deserve Their Day in Court

(Originally published at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

In 2001, several female Wal-Mart employees discovered that their male counterparts were paid more for comparable jobs and were promoted more often. The female employees decided to sue their employer collectively under Title VII, the federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on sex – but the case has never been heard on its merits. For almost ten years Wal-Mart has insisted that its one million female employees do not constitute a class suffering from pay discrimination.

The federal district court judge who heard the case in 2004 ruled that they did. In April 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

Now Wal-Mart has filed a Petition for Certiorari with the Supreme Court, in hopes that the court will strike down the Ninth Circuit’s ruling. If the Supreme Court does not uphold the Ninth Circuit’s decision, each woman employee would have to file individual suits against the largest corporation and private employer in the United States.

Wal-Mart’s employment statistics clearly demonstrate that their women employees were paid less than their male counterparts in every region of the country for the same jobs. Legal Momentum agrees with The New York Times Editorial Board – the Supreme Court should uphold the Ninth Circuit’s ruling to allow Wal-Mart’s female employees to proceed as a class. It is clear that this case should be heard on its merits. All of Wal-Mart’s female employees deserve their day in court.

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