Wal-Mart class action given the green light
Massachusetts Wal-Mart employees and former staff sued the retail giant in a class action law suit in 2001 for allegedly withholding their wages and cutting their breaks short.
The case was delayed in 2006 after a Middlesex Superior Court judge refused to certify the class action suit and tossed out some evidence. But in Sept 2008, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court overturned that ruling, and the case is now moving forward again.
Attorney Robert Bonsignore of law firm Bonsignore & Brewer is representing the Massachusetts workers, and some of their colleagues who filed similar complaints in other states.
He said the class action includes anyone who worked at Wal-Mart for an hourly wage and the case could go to trial within nine months. Furthermore, the ruling shows that the courts are willing to take the types of allegations made against Wal-Mart seriously.
The Supreme Judicial Court, in its ruling, recognized that Wal-Mart store managers are under a lot of pressure to increase profits by minimizing labor costs.
According to the ruling, store managers are rewarded for keeping salary costs low, and are penalized bonuses or even their jobs if their stores spend beyond Wal-Mart payroll guidelines.
“It makes it clear that at least in Massachusetts the unfair competitive advantage that Wal-Mart has had over other business is not going to be tolerated,” Bonsignore said. “This is not only a victory for the employees, it’s a victory for small and large competitors.”
Wal-Mart, meanwhile, says its policy is to pay workers for all their hours and notes that the verdict was not a decision on the merits of the case.
Bonsignore countered that it is logical to treat the case as a class action. He said if the case succeeds most plaintiffs will probably get awards of just $500 to $1,500, hardly enough to warrant filing individual lawsuits.
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