M4 – Wal-Mart and Workplace Discrimination Essay
The name of Walmart corporation is associated not only with retail, but also with courts and lawsuits. A particularly notable suit was filed on behalf of Betty Dukes and supported by other women working for Walmart. In the lawsuit, it is stated that Walmart is allegedly discriminating against women in various forms: women have fewer chances of receiving training and being promoted, they are assigned to low-paid departments more often than men; women are paid less for same or comparable job activities, have to work in a hostile environment and experience pressure due to gender discrimination; other employees retaliate against women who dare to oppose gender discrimination (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes).
The case was filed in 2001 as a class action lawsuit on behalf of 1.6 million women working in Walmart in the United States (PBS, 2011). There were notable statistical data for male and female pay that was meant to support the claims. In 2004, the status of a class action lawsuit was approved, but Walmart appealed the decision. Walmart defended its position by stating that the company assigned most responsibility to regional and local store managers and therefore job practices in different areas could significantly differ from each other. Basing on these reasons and on statistical differences, Walmart demanded that women should file individual claims and each of these claims should be considered separately.
In 2007, the Ninth Circuit ruled first in support of class action, then dismissed the decision in the end of 2007, and granted a rehearing of the lawsuit on the certification of class action (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes). Eventually the Supreme Court ruled the case in favor of Walmart in 2011. It was decided that the commonality of cases was not sufficient to form a class action lawsuit. Instead, the lawsuit was taken down to the state level. It is expected to be considered in the states in which the evidence of gender discrimination was the most notable – California and Texas (PBS, 2011).
Despite the fact that the case was ruled in favor of Walmart, this lawsuit had a positive impact on the issues related to workplace gender discrimination in the United States. Walmart improved its corporate policies for women and created special programs empowering women. For example, Walmart is currently investing into such programs as empowering women through training, sourcing from business owned by women, promotion of diversity and inclusion among the suppliers of professional services and merchandising suppliers (Walmart, 2014).
Betty Dukes who is still determined to protect her rights and the rights of other women working in Walmart in the court contributed a lot to reducing gender inequality and empowering women. She is viewed as the role model by many women who decide to protect their rights in the court (PBS, 2011). Increased public attention to the questions of gender discrimination and workplace discrimination at Walmart urged the company to review its policies and attitudes. The fact that workplace issues pertaining to gender discrimination are reviewed and that equality is explicitly promoted by the company stimulates managers and other Walmart employees to be more tolerant and more just in those cases where discrimination might have emerged in the 2000s.
In addition, even the decision to review the lawsuit at state level might be beneficial for gender equality. According to PBS (2011), the decisions on these lawsuits might create a certain national standard for treating women and promoting gender equality which would be later adopted by Walmart stores and other large employments in other states. Hence, this lawsuit has a largely positive impact on gender discrimination issues in the workplace.
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