Wal-Mart sex case fails
SUPERMARKET giant Wal-Mart yesterday won a case to dismiss a massive class-action sex discrimination lawsuit, after the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in its favour.
The court said more than 1m female Wal-Mart employees from across the US could not proceed in their multi-billion dollar case, which accused the grocer, which owns Asda, of paying women less and offering them fewer promotions.
The Supreme Court agreed with Wal-Mart, the largest private US employer, that the class-action certification violated federal rules as its individual claimants do not have enough in common to come together in a joint legal case.
Shares in Wal-Mart bounced more than one per cent after the firm said the case, which trundled through the courts for almost ten years, is over. The US Chamber of Commerce also cheered the ruling as key for all firms.