Wal-Mart being sued for gender discrimination

Everyone has shopped at Wal-Mart at one time or another. They have low prices, have many sales and they claim to offer great benefits and many advancement opportunities to all members of their staff. A former employee named Betty Dukes filed along with 5 other co-workers filed a class action employment lawsuit against Wal-Mart back in 2001. The plaintiffs are accusing Wal-Mart of paying women alot less per hour than the male employees and giving them less promotion opportunities and that most of upper management opportunites are given to men. The lawsuit also alleges that the company's "strong, centralized structure fosters or facilitates gender stereotyping and discrimination"(Bill Mears CNN). The plaintiffs are trying to win this lawsuit by receiving back pay and punitive damages. The federal appeals court has concluded that there was enough merit in the claims to proceed to trial which could mean millions of dollars in damages for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has also been accused in other lawsuits of discrimination against African-American truck drivers and workers with disabilities. In 2001, the company settled 13 lawsuits by paying out $6 million. I am personally rooting for the plaintiffs. Wal-Mart always tries to represent the company as family oriented and a great place to work and to be honest I never believed any of it. Everytime I have gone inside a Wal-Mart I can't say that I've ever seen a happy employee, they all seem disgruntled and make me feel like I'm bothering them for asking a question. So how can such a great place, have so many unhappy employees? In my many years of working experience I have to say that the times that I have acted just like the Wal-Mart employees with attitudes, was because I was unhappy with my employer and felt like I was being used and abused. I feel that this lawsuit will be a great victory against discrimination especially against women, we work just as hard as men do and most of the time we work alot harder and are way smarter!! I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome of this case and in the meantime I will be boycotting Wal-mart to support those female employees who are brave enough to speak up for their rights! I'm posting the link to this article in case anyone is interested in reading it in it's entirety.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/26/walmart.suit/index.html?iref=allsearch