Wal-Mart asks court to narrow bias lawsuit

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug 9, 2005 | by Bloomberg News

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, on Monday asked a federal appeals court to overturn a ruling that may allow as many as 1.6 million female workers to seek damages for discrimination.

At a hearing in San Francisco, Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for Wal-Mart, urged three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling that granted class-action status to the case.

Six women sued Wal-Mart in 2001 for back pay and other compensation, accusing the company of paying women less than men in similar jobs and offering them fewer promotions. A federal judge expanded the lawsuit last year to include as many as 1.6 million current and former workers after the women's lawyers said evidence showed that Wal-Mart policies discriminated against females.

The experiences of the six workers "simply are not common or typical of the experiences of millions of women who work for Wal- Mart," Boutrous said in court.

A victory for Wal-Mart's appeal would remove pressure to settle the case by increasing costs for the people suing, and may discourage suits against other employers, said William White, an attorney at the Los Angeles-based firm of Hill Farrer & Burrill, who represents companies in class actions.

"There's no question it would change the momentum of the lawsuit in Wal-Mart's favor," said White, who isn't involved in the case. A Wal-Mart loss would give the workers leverage in a settlement, he said.

Losing the class-action case at trial might cost the company as much as $10 billion in back pay, punitive damages and raises, Morris Baller, an attorney who represents workers in employment cases at the Oakland, Calif., firm of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, estimated last month. Wal-Mart reported net income of $10.3 billion for the year that ended in January.

Boutrous said experts hired by Wal-Mart found no disparities in the salaries of men and women in similar jobs at 90 percent of Wal- Mart stores. He said pay and promotion decisions are made by store managers.

Brad Seligman, an attorney for the workers, told the judges that other experts found significant pay and promotion disparities between men and women. In 2001, the year the lawsuit was filed, Wal- Mart's female hourly workers were paid $1,100 less per year than men and female managers made $14,500 less than their male counterparts, statistics show.