Securities: One Million Women Could Sue Wal-Mart in Bias Class Action

The largest sex discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history has taken a step forward after a ruling by a federal appeals court that says a complaint brought by six women in 2001 can proceed as a class-action case against Wal-Mart. The ruling means that over one million past and present women workers have the opportunity to seek compensation; a lawsuit could ultimately cost Wal-Mart billions of dollars. The panel of three judges did not discuss the merits of the case. Wal-Mart said it will fight the lawsuit, initially by asking the appeals court to reconsider their decision and ultimately taking the case to the Supreme Court.

One Million Women Could Sue Wal-Mart in Sex Bias Class Action

Wal-Mart says that the circumstances of the original case could not apply to the two million women who have been employed by Wal-Mart since December 1998. Theodore Boutrous, the lead defense lawyer for Wal-Mart, says that "Wal-Mart has a strong anti-discrimination policy" and that the decisions made over six years at 3,400 stores by thousands of individual managers "cannot be tried in one fell swoop in a nationwide class-action lawsuit."