In a relatively non-shocking decision, the United States Supreme Court has sided with corporate giant Wal-Mart in a sex discrimination suit. The plaintiffs in the case were seeking to make the sexual discrimination lawsuit into a class-action, involving up to 1.6 million women. The decision has far-reaching implications for employee rights and big corporations.

The justices voted along party lines by a vote to 5-4,reversing an earlier decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The High Court said there were too many women in too many jobs at Wal-Mart to form into a class action suit. Wal-Mart could have faced billions of dollars in damages. The few women who brought the case are prepared to bring claims against the retail giant on their own. Of course, individual lawsuits will place much less pressure on Wal-Mart and involve less money. Two of the named plaintiffs, Christine Kwapnoski and Betty Dukes, attended the argument. Kwapnoski is an assistant manager at a Sam’s Club in Concord, Calif. Dukes is a greeter at the Wal-Mart in Pittsburg, Calif.

In a statement, Wal-Mart said, “The court today unanimously rejected class certification and, as the majority made clear, the plaintiffs’ claims were worlds away from showing a companywide discriminatory pay and promotion policy.”

Dukes and Kwapnoski said they were disappointed in the ruling, but vowed to push ahead with their claims. Both women spoke on a conference call with reporters. “We still are determined to go forward to present our case in court. We believe we will prevail there,” Dukes said. “All I have to say is when I go back to work tomorrow, I’m going to let them know we are still fighting,” Kwapnoski.

Other advocates were also disappointed with the Supreme Court decision. Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, said “the court has told employers that they can rest easy, knowing that the bigger and more powerful they are, the less likely their employees will be able to join together to secure their rights.”

The Supreme Court agreed with Wal-Mart’s argument that being forced to defend the treatment of female employees regardless of the jobs they hold or where they work is unfair. Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion for the court’s conservative majority said there need to be common elements tying together “literally millions of employment decisions at once,” which he felt was absent in this case.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the court’s four liberal justices, said there was more than enough uniting the claims. “Wal-Mart’s delegation of discretion over pay and promotions is a policy uniform throughout all stores,” Ginsburg said.

Both sides have argued that the ruling could have severe consequences. The business community, who supported Wal-Mart, has said that a ruling for the women would lead to a flood of class-action lawsuits based on vague evidence. Supporters of the women, including civil rights groups, feared that a decision in favor of Wal-Mart could remove a valuable weapon for fighting all sorts of discrimination.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/drewesque/

Share This

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

About the author

Erin Chavez
Erin Whitney-Chavez has been writing professionally since 2009. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from St. Bonaventure University and received a Master of Arts in mental-health counseling from Argosy University. Erin Whitney-Chavez is a licensed mental health counselor and has worked in the mental-health field for more than 10 years.

Related Posts

Proposition 37: What’s it all About?

On November 6, California will vote to decide whether genetically modified food will require new labeling. Proposition 37 would require that all food sold to consumers made from plant or animal material that has had its genetic...

Best California Places for Wine Lovers

San Francisco, U.S.A. -- You, friends and family, a convertible and the wide open California road. What could be a better combination? Pairing it with California wine country, of course. Because there are so many choices,...

Big Support to Legalize Medical Marijuana in L.A.

Hollywood, U.S.A. -- Medbox company CEO, Dr. Bruce Bedrick commented on the recent admission by some Los Angeles City Councilmen that they are in favor of legalized medical marijuana. "We applaud the courage and conviction...