Walmart

States have come up with a lot of ideas for reducing the nation's high .... Walmart's treatment of female employees is under fire, both in the courts and ... Wisconsin's Republican leaders appear to be taking the same confident and ...... Nikki Haley is facing her first big lawsuit after saying the state would try

Published: April 20, 2011

Walmart case may redraw US gender bias, class action rules

AUTHOR

Julie Zetler

Senior lecturer, Business Law at Macquarie University

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A class action case is being attempted against US retailer Walmart. AAP

A controversial and wide-ranging sex discrimination case against US retailer Walmart is currently wending its way through the country's highest court.

A 10-year-old case, Walmart v Duke, began with legal action by six women, but could potentially launch America's largest ever class action involving up millions of American women.

With billions of dollars in back pay and punitive damages at stake for Walmart – North America's largest private employer and a multinational operating in United Kingdom, Mexico, India and Canada, among others – it's hardly surprising the case is being closely followed by both American and international companies.

The case also marks an attempt by the Supreme Court to look at the standards for certifying a class action and the possibility of putting tighter restrictions on class-action suits.

Additionally, it will put to the test both the US Supreme Court's pro-business stance as well as the gender make-up of its judges.

The background

The latest confrontation between the parties commenced in late last month in the United States' most superior court, the Supreme Court. The judgment, expected in June, will set the rules for class action applications for the rest of the country.

The court will determine whether up to 2 million women employed by Walmart can file a sex discrimination lawsuit as one unified group.

If allowed, it would cover any woman who has worked for one of more than 3400 Walmart stores in the