Employers everywhere will want to see whether the Supreme Court says a single class-action lawsuit can include as many 1.5 million employees.
That’s what is at stake in a recent discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart, in which six women accused the retail giant of not providing female workers with the same compensation and promotional opportunities as men.
Now the attorneys of those six women want to pursue discrimination claims in a class-action suit for more than 1.5 million women who worked at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores dating back to 1998.
And the Supreme Court will decide if a single lawsuit is fitting for charges that encompass workers from nearly 3,400 stores nationwide.
A class-action suit of this scope would put tremendous pressure on Wal-Mart to settle. And with the class members in this lawsuit collectively seeking billions of dollars, who knows just how high that could settlement end up being.
If the court rules a single suit can include all 1.5 million workers, it could set a new precedent for how broad class-action suits against businesses, particularly large employers, can become.
