New Walmart Gender Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit Filed

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Seven plaintiffs who were Class Members in the Wal-Mart v. Dukes class action lawsuit that was tossed in 2011 by the U.S. Supreme Court have filed a new Walmart class action lawsuit in Florida federal court accusing Walmart and Sam’s Club of engaging in unlawful gender discrimination with regard to female employees’ compensation and promotional opportunities.

Plaintiffs Kathleen Forbes, Lisa O’Brien, Lou Ann Hawes, Linda Ray, Judith Danneman, Bridgette Bramley and Edna Remington claim Walmart has violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and have asked the court to order Walmart to correct its allegedly unlawful gender-biased employment practices and to provide appropriate relief to women who were adversely affected by the practices.

“This action springs from Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the national class action filed more than ten years ago,” the Walmart class action lawsuit says. “In Dukes, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California certified a national class of female Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club employees challenging Wal-Mart’s retail store pay and management promotion policies as discriminatory against women.”

“On June 20, 2011, the United States Supreme Court reversed that class certification order, imposing new guidelines for class actions in Title VII employment discrimination cases.”

Instead of filing the Walmart class action lawsuit on behalf of a nationwide Class like the one rejected by the Supreme Court in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the seven plaintiffs have instead filed the new Walmart gender discrimination class action lawsuit on behalf of three regional classes of current and former female Walmart and Sam’s Club employees.

The three regions—Walmart Region 10, Walmart Region 46, and Sam’s Club Region 6—are all located in the Southeastern United States.

“In each of the above Regions, Wal-Mart maintained a pattern or practice of gender discrimination in compensation and promotion,” the Walmart pay bias class action lawsuit alleges. “And, in each of the above Regions, the compensation and promotion policies and practices of Wal-Mart had a disparate impact, not justified by business necessity, on its female employees in the Region.”

According to the Walmart class action lawsuit, the putative Class Members were denied equal opportunities for promotion and were denied equal pay for hourly and salaried positions. The plaintiffs estimate that each regional Class includes at least 10,000 women.

The Walmart class action lawsuit includes several allegations of gender-biased comments that were received from male assistant managers at Walmart stores, including comments that women were unable to perform certain management jobs because they have children and that their focus should be on their home lives rather than getting promoted.

The plaintiffs also point to specific circumstances in which a male employee was paid more than a female employee for doing the same job. According to the Walmart class action lawsuit, management failed to redress the pay disparity after it was brought to their attention.

The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph Sellers, Christine Webber, Leslie Kroeger and Diana Martin of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Cathleen Scott and Lindsey Wagner of Scott Wagner and Associates PA.

The Wal-Mart Gender Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Kathleen Forbes, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Case No. 9:17-cv-81225, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.