Sex Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against TN Wal-Mart

On Tuesday current employees of Walmart's Tennessee stores announced a class-action lawsuit against the corporation on grounds of sex discrimination. The case, Phipps, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is a class-action suit that alleges that female employees in Tennessee did not receive the same pay or promotion opportunities as their male counterparts at Walmart.

This is the third regional discrimination case filed against Wal-Mart since June 2011, when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a national class-action lawsuit that included over 1.5 million women. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the suit was too varied in its allegations, showing no concrete pattern of gender bias, effectively making Walmart "too big to sue."

In a statement, the named plaintiff in the Tennessee suit, Cheryl Phipps, said, "We seek justice for ourselves and all Wal-Mart women workers in this region who have been denied equal pay and opportunities for promotion. Many of us have waited more than a decade to have our day in court to fight for the pay and advancement opportunities that we rightly deserved."

This suit follows two other cases that have recent been filed against the retail company on the basis of gender discrimination. The other cases are Dukes, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. filed in a California U.S. District Court and Odle, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. filed in a Texas U.S. District Court.

Media Resources: Nashville Public Radio 10/02/12; Feminist Newswire 06/07/12;U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Complaint Press Release; Feminist Newswire 02/21/12; Feminist Newswire 09/25/12

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