By Kevin McCauley
Wal-Mart today scored a major legal victory as the Supreme Court threw out a sex discrimination case that covered a potential 1.5M women who claimed they were discriminated against in the areas of pay and promotions.
The Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that plaintiffs could not proceed as a class in the biggest employment discrimination case filed in U.S. history.
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the workers “provide no convincing proof of a companywide discriminatory pay and promotion policy.”
Wal-Mart says it’s pleased with decision. Gisel Ruiz, executive VP/people, said the company has strong policies in place that ban discrimination.
“The Court today unanimously rejected class certification and, as the majority made clear, the plaintiffs’ claims were worlds away from showing a companywide discriminatory pay and promotion policy,” said a statement from Ruiz.
A defeat for Wal-Mart would have cost the retail giant billions in back pay.
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