Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Women at Walmart: A
Gender Discrimination
Lawsuit Case
Company
Overview
Sam Walton
Walton described his
relationship with his
employees as partnership
and believed that the way
management treats its
employees is exactly how
the employees will treat the
customers, and that means
the customers will return
again and that is where the
real profit comes from.
Walmart in Trouble
Not
Not Treating
Treating
Its
Its Female
Female
Failed
Failed to
to Employees
Employees
provide
provide aa In
In Socially
Socially
Safe
Safe Responsible
Responsible
Not
Not
Workplace
Workplace Manner
Manner
Promoting
Promoting
Women
Women at
at
the
the
Workplace
Workplace
Offered
Offered No
No Freedom
Freedom
High
High Of
Of
Unaffordab
Unaffordab Association
Association
le
le Health
Health Of
Of Workers
Workers
Care
Care Plans
Plans
In November 2002, thousands of protestors
took to the streets in 40 US states protesting
against Walmart treatment of employees
Walmart vs Dukes:
Discrimination Against
Women
2001: Betty Dukes filed
a gender discrimination
case against Walmart
She was denied
training to advance to
higher position despite
excellent performance
review
The case expanded to
1.6 million current and
former employees of
Walmart
Certified as the largest
class action lawsuit in
Discrimination Against
Women
Timeline of Walmart vs
Date Dukes Events
June 8, 2001 Betty Dukes and six other women filed suit against Wal-Mart , seeking to represent a
class of more than 1.5 million female employees at 3,400 Wal-Mart stores across the
United States; they claimed that the retailer made discriminatory decisions based on
gender in determining female employees' pay and eligibility for promotions
June 22, 2004 U.S. Judge Martin Jenkins of the Northern District of California certified a class of all
current and former employees of Wal-Mart who worked at its U.S. stores at any time
since Dec. 26, 1998
Dec. 11, 2007 A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel limited the class to exclude workers who were
not employed by Wal-Mart when the plaintiffs filed their first amended complaint on June
19, 2001
April 26, 2010 In a 6-5 vote, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowed the gender bias suit to
proceed as a class action
Aug. 25, 2010 Wal-Mart petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the class certification decision
Dec. 6, 2010 The justices granted certiorari and agreed to hear Wal-Marts appeal
June 20, 2011 The U.S. Supreme Court reversed certification, finding that it was not consistent with
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a).
July 15, 2016 Betty Dukes and her friends who sued Walmart 15 years ago reached a confidential
settlement with Walmart and voluntarily agreed to dismiss their claims
Number of Employees by Store
Type
Percent of Women in Hourly and
Salary Jobs
Average Earnings by Gender
(Hourly vs Salary)
Average
Earnings by
Gender in
Store
Manageme
nt Jobs
Average Earnings by
Gender
Walmarts Response
Walmarts Response
Consequences of the
Case
Walmart improve its corporate policies
for women and created special
programs empowering women
Betty Dukes viewed as role model for
women employees
Create a certain national standard for
treating women and promoting gender
equality amongst large companies
Reduction in the settlement of
discrimination cases
Ethical Theories
Perspective
Individualism Theory