Wal-Mart discrimination case prompts smaller groups to seek class certification
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Since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2011 ruling in Betty Dukes et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in which the court said a proposed gender discrimination class failed to identify a “common mode of exercising discretion that pervades the company,” smaller groups of plaintiffs have filed lawsuits around the United States seeking class certification.
While there has been no final determination in some cases, none has yet been successful.
According to a spokeswoman for plaintiffs attorneys in the California case against Wal-Mart that was rejected this month, case dismissals in Texas and Tennessee are being appealed. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has refused to reconsider dismissal of a case filed in Wisconsin and it is now back in federal district court. And a ruling is pending in a Florida case.
In a statement on the recent ruling in California, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said it is pleased that the court rejected “the attempt of a few associates to turn their individual complaints into a sweeping and unwarranted class action. As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in 2011, these claims are unsuitable for class treatment because each individual's situation is so different.''
Plaintiff attorney Randy Renick, a partner at Hadsell Stormer Richardson & Renick L.L.P. in Pasadena, Calif., said the plaintiffs plan to appeal.
“We are deeply disappointed in the court's decision regarding what we remain convinced is a strong class-action case against Wal-Mart for wide-scale gender discrimination,” Mr. Renick said in a statement. “While this court decision does not in any way negate the merits of the pay and promotion discrimination case against Wal-Mart, it does create yet another hurdle for these women to at long last have their day in court.”
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