PITTSBURGH, June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Coalition for Constitutional Values (PCCV) today expressed its deep disappointment with the ruling by the Supreme Court in the case of Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the largest civil rights class action suit in history. Today, the Court issued a ruling in favor of Wal-Mart. The result is that hundreds of thousands of women who have worked for the retailer cannot collectively seek an injunction and lost pay for discriminatory wages and career advancement. According to the PCCV, the decision seriously undermines employment discrimination laws that have protected American workers for 45 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
PCCV Co-Chair Christine Stone released the following statement:
"In Wal-Mart v. Dukes, yet another 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court told women everywhere that they can't come together to challenge the widespread, systemic discrimination in pay and promotions they suffered at the hands of the nation's largest private employer."
The original case against Wal-Mart began in 2001 when six women, led by employee Betty Dukes, sued Wal-Mart, accusing the retail giant of sex discrimination in pay, promotions and hiring. The case expanded to include more than one million women when it was certified on June 21, 2004.
"Every step of the way, Wal-Mart has tried to silence these 1.6 million female employees by challenging the class action and have succeeded in denying their workers redress in the courts," said Scott M. Hare, Esquire, Scott M. Hare, who has represented plaintiffs in multiparty complex litigation in federal and state courts in Pennsylvania. "And while Wal-Mart prevailed in this case, Betty Dukes succeeded in exposing Wal-Mart's employment practices to the public." According to Mr. Hare, the minutes obtained from Wal-Mart board meetings proved management knew the company lagged far behind its competitors in representation of women in management. There was clear evidence that Wal-Mart lacked job posting as a barrier to women's advancement and store business meetings were held at strip clubs.
"This decision encourages corporations to have a culture of discrimination and harassment," said Janet Hill, National Vice President of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). "It will have a chilling effect on class action suits and many low wage women will be unable to afford the price of justice at Wal-Mart."
"The Supreme Court decision Wal-Mart v. Dukes is damaging not only for women workers, and these women in particular, but also all American workers. It means that plaintiffs cannot bond together in a class action, but instead must bring cases individually against employers," Ms. Stone said on behalf of the PCCV. "Obviously, the legal and financial resources of corporations like Wal-Mart far overpower those of individual workers, making it nearly impossible for individuals to be equally represented and successfully heard in court."
The PCCV also points out that the Wal-Mart v. Dukes decision will further clog an already overburdened court system. "In situations where hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of plaintiffs are able to join together under one case it greatly streamlines the judicial process, freeing up desperately needed court resources and easing delays. Vacancies on federal court benches across the country have caused 'judicial emergencies' that are straining the courts to the breaking point, and this ruling may result in an explosion of additional cases," Stone said.
The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), one of more than 50 member organizations of PCCV, filed an amicus in the Wal-Mart v. Dukes case. "NCJW is proud to have filed an amicus in this case," Stone said, "along with an unprecedented number of other organizations that believe that nothing less than equal pay and civil rights were at stake. We continue to assert that the courts should be a place where individual rights are defended and upheld; where civil rights are championed."
For more information on the Pennsylvania Coalition for Constitutional Values visit http://www.ncjw.org/content_4538.cfm.
SOURCE National Council of Jewish Women
