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ARTICLE · 06 JULY 2011

Wal-Mart Discrimination Ruling: A Victory For US Employers

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On June 20, 2011, the US Supreme Court reversed a Ninth Circuit court decision and ruled in favor of Wal-Mart in the country's largest-ever sex discrimination case. The decision will make it significantly harder for other class-action suits against large employers to succeed, particularly in relation to discrimination claims.

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Helen Colquhoun
Helen Colquhoun
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The US Supreme Court reversed a Ninth Circuit court decision and ruled in favor of Wal-Mart in the country's largest-ever sex discrimination case.

FIRST PUBLISHED ON COMPLIANCE COMPLETE HR, PART OF THOMSON REUTERS ACCELUS

"This is without doubt the most important class action case in more than a decade."

On June 20, 2011, the US Supreme Court reversed a Ninth Circuit court decision and ruled in favor of Wal-Mart in the country's largest-ever sex discrimination case. The decision will make it significantly harder for other class-action suits against large employers to succeed, particularly in relation to discrimination claims.

Background

The Supreme Court was asked to decide the issue of whether the sex discrimination claims of up to 1.5 million current and former female employees from approximately 3,400 Wal-Mart stores across the US could be joined into a single lawsuit; a lawsuit that could have cost Wal-Mart billions of dollars in back-pay and

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