Wal-Mart Case Imposes Higher Standards for Employee Class Actions
The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Wal-Mart employees claiming sex discrimination did not show sufficient commonality to maintain class action status. The decision will affect other large employee class action suits currently pending. See Supreme Court erects major barriers to class actions in Wal-Mart ruling – Law.com.
General Tel. Co. of Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147 (1982) held that one way to prove commonality is to show that the employer operated under a general policy of discrimination. The plaintiffs in Wal-Mart attempted to show Wal-Mart operated under a general policy of discrimination.
According to the court, the only corporate policy that the plaintiffs’ evidence convincingly showed was Wal-Mart’s policy of giving discretion to its local supervisors over employment matters. “On its face … that is just the opposite of a uniform employment practice that would provide the commonality needed for a class action; it is a policy against having uniform employment practices,” it said.
Discrimination Suit Against Wal-Mart Not Appropriate for Class Certification, U.S. Law Week.
The Court will next address the validity of another class action lawsuit, Philip Morris USA, Inc., et al., v. Jackson (docket 10-735). “That is a case that turns entirely on constitutional questions — a massive class-action lawsuit against the nation’s major cigarette companies in Louisiana state court that resulted in an award of $270 million to a class of former smokers.” Opinion analysis: Wal-Mart‘s two messages – Scotus blog. The impact of the Wal-Mart case is unclear, as Wal-Mart deals with Fed.Civ.R. 23, and Philip Morris deals with state civil rules.
More articles:
Supreme Court limits Walmart sex bias case – The Plain Dealer
Supreme Court rules for Wal-Mart in massive job discrimination lawsuit – CNN
Photo: Wal-Mart, Houghton Lake By wachovia_138
