The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether a sex-discrimination class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. can proceed.
If allowed to proceed, the case will become the largest job discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.
Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is appealing a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that the class-action could go ahead.
The suit was filed by six employees on behalf of more than a half-dozen former and current female Wal-Mart staffers. The plaintiffs claim that women at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores are paid less and promoted less often than men.
If Wal-Mart losses the suit, it could pay billions of dollars in legal damages.
Under a class-action lawsuit, a small number of individuals are allowed to file a suit that may affect a much large number of individuals with similar claims.
Lawyers for Wal-Mart argue that plaintiffs in 3,400 Wal-Mart stores under hundreds of job classifications do not have enough in common to make class-action appropriate.
Wal-Mart and other big companies that back Wal-Mart's appeal say that the lawsuit may lead to an avalanche of similar class-action lawsuits in California and the other Western states overseen by the 9th appeals court.
The Supreme Court will not be deciding whether Wal-Mart is guilty. It will only decide whether a single class-action lawsuit is appropriate when the discrimination claims are spread across 3,400 stores across about 170 job classifications.
If allowed to proceed, the case will become the largest job discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.
Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is appealing a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that the class-action could go ahead.
The suit was filed by six employees on behalf of more than a half-dozen former and current female Wal-Mart staffers. The plaintiffs claim that women at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores are paid less and promoted less often than men.
If Wal-Mart losses the suit, it could pay billions of dollars in legal damages.
Under a class-action lawsuit, a small number of individuals are allowed to file a suit that may affect a much large number of individuals with similar claims.
Lawyers for Wal-Mart argue that plaintiffs in 3,400 Wal-Mart stores under hundreds of job classifications do not have enough in common to make class-action appropriate.
Wal-Mart and other big companies that back Wal-Mart's appeal say that the lawsuit may lead to an avalanche of similar class-action lawsuits in California and the other Western states overseen by the 9th appeals court.
The Supreme Court will not be deciding whether Wal-Mart is guilty. It will only decide whether a single class-action lawsuit is appropriate when the discrimination claims are spread across 3,400 stores across about 170 job classifications.
