In 2001, six female employees of Wal-Mart filed suit against their company in US federal court alleging that Wal-Mart discriminated against them in salary, bonuses and training. After extensive discovery and oral argument, in 2003 the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint requesting that the court certify the case as a class action on behalf of current and former female Wal-Mart employees maintaining that the discrimination faced by the original plaintiffs was systematic in nature and affected all women employed by Wal-Mart. In June of 2004, the court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. The lawsuit represents approximately 1.5 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees, which makes it the largest workplace bias case in US history. Wal-Mart appealed the class certification decision. In February of 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's ruling granting class action status to this gender discrimination lawsuit. In February 2009, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Wal-Mart's request for an en banc review of the lower court's ruling granting class action status. This review was heard in late March 2009.
- “Walmart fails to halt suit”, Bloomberg News, 12 Dec 2007
- "Wal-Mart Loses Bid to Block Group Suit in Bias Case", Karen Gullo and Margaret Cronin Fisk, Bloomberg News, 6 Feb 2007
- “Wal-Mart Asks Court To Narrow Bias Lawsuit”, Bloomberg News, 9 Aug 2005
- “Wal-Mart Wants to Declassify Lawsuit”, Anthony Sebok, FindLaw, 11 Aug 2004
- “Wal-Mart Bias Case Moves Forward”, Amy Joyce, Washington Post, 23 Jun 2004
- Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart Will Seek Further Appellate Review In Gender Class Action Lawsuit, 6 Feb 2007
- Wal-Mart: [PDF] Employment and Diversity Factsheet, 24 Jan 2007
- Website for plaintiffs and information for members and potential members of the class action lawsuit: Wal-Mart Class Website
- Equal Rights Advocates (co-counsel for plaintiffs): Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores (includes summary of the case and links to certain legal documents)
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: [PDF] Dukes v. Wal-Mart Inc., 11 Dec 2007
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: [PDF] Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 6 Feb 2007
