Wal-Mart is out of options in trying to seek legal relief from the $187 million class action judgment against world’s largest retailer. That judgment will stand because the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by Wal-Mart to throw out the ruling leaving intact a 2014 decision made by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The original case was filed in 2002 (and amended several times), when two former Wal-Mart employees, Michelle Braun and Dolores Hummel, claimed that Wal-Mart did not pay them for all hours worked and did not allow them to take full meal and rest breaks, violating state wage laws. They filed their initial suit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas as a class-action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated to seek redress for missed rest and meal breaks and off-the-clock work from their former employer, Wal-Mart (and its affiliates).
From the outset, Wal-Mart claimed that the suit did not merit class-action status and while it lost at every level, it continued to appeal its case.
In June 2011, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas’ $188 million judgment against Wal-Mart, finding that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that Wal-Mart breached its contract with its workers and violated state wage laws.
Wal-Mart then took the case to the state’s highest court, which ultimately concluded that individual examinations of all 187,000 class members weren’t necessary to determine whether employees were forced to work through their breaks. The decision affects about 187,000 employees who worked in Pennsylvania Wal-Mart owned stores between March 1998 and April 2006.
In a statement, Wal-Mart said: “While we continue to believe these claims should not be bundled together in a class-action lawsuit, we respect the court’s decision.”
Wal-Mart also noted that the claims in the lawsuit are over 10 years old and policies have been put in place to ensure all workers receive appropriate pay and break periods.
“We have taken additional steps over the last decade, including enhancing our timekeeping systems and additional training, to make sure all our associates understand the importance of those policies and comply with them,” the Bentonville, AR-based retailer added.
