Wal-Mart Gender Discrimination Suit Is Certified

A civil rights suit that alleges Wal-Mart(WMT Quote) systematically denied women equal pay and promotions was granted class-action status by a federal judge, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.

U.S. District Court Judge Martin Jenkins ruled that six current and former Wal-Mart employees from California can represent all female employees of Wal-Mart who worked at its U.S. stores anytime since Dec. 26, 1998. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said that class comprises 1.6 million people.

"Plaintiffs present largely uncontested descriptive statistics which show that women working at Wal-Mart stores are paid less than men in every region, that pay disparities exist in most job categories, that the salary gap widens over time, that women take longer to enter management positions, and that the higher one looks in the organization the lower the percentage of women," Jenkins was quoted by the plaintiffs saying. ...