Wal-Mart: A Case of Employee Discrimination

<< Previous

"The nation's largest retailer is quickly becoming the nation's biggest violator of worker rights."

- Case Deepens Against Wal-Mart, www.ufcw.org, February 05, 2003.

"At Wal-Mart we do not discriminate against anyone, including women."

- Mona Williams, Vice President for Communications, Wal-Mart, www.ufcw135.org, February 16, 2003.

Wal-Mart in Trouble

The beginning of the 21^st century brought with it a spate of problems for the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart.¹ The company found itself facing one of the biggest lawsuits ever in the history of the US. In June 2001, a former Wal-Mart employee, Betty Dukes (Dukes), had filed a case accusing the company of 'sex discrimination in promotions, training and pay.'

Many more employees joined Dukes, and by May 2003, the case had taken the shape of a class action suit2 after the plaintiffs asked a Federal Judge to allow the case to proceed on behalf of more than 1.5 million women. Wal-Mart had for long been accused of not treating its female employees in a socially responsible manner. A study of Wal-Mart's own employee data (conducted by some experts hired by the plaintiffs) revealed that women had been discriminated against in many instances. Even the company's internal memos revealed that Wal-Mart was far behind its competitors in promoting women at the workplace. Industry observers said that the company's competitors had employed more female managers in 1975 than Wal-Mart did even in 1999.

Apart from the sex discrimination case, Wal-Mart was also accused of breaking Federal laws that protected the freedom of association of workers. The company was reportedly found guilty of retaliating against and firing workers who were involved in union organizing. In addition, Wal-Mart was alleged to have failed to provide safe workplaces, to have utilized child labor and to have offered highly unaffordable healthcare plans.

Wal-Mart: A Case of Employee Discrimination - Next Page>>

---

Custom Search

---

Business Ethics and Corporate Governance Textbook Textbooks Collection	Business Ethics and Corporate Governance Workbook Workbooks Collection	Case Studies in Business Ethics - Vol. I Case Study Volumes Collection

1] The market leader in the US discount retailing industry, Wal-Mart had 3,300 stores and earned revenues of $ 230 billion in 2002.

2] A class-action suit is a suit filed to protect the interests of a group of individuals which is affected or may be affected by a perceived fraud or misconduct of a similar nature. The number of people could be as less as 10 or over millions. Typically, class action suits in the US drag on for years and very often parties settle out of court within the first year of filing.

3] As mentioned in the article 'Wal-Mart? No Sale,' dated April 23, 2003, at www.philly.com.