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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2011
CONTACT:

press@ufcw.org

STATEMENT ON THE SUPREME COURT’S REJECTION OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION CLASS ACTION STATUS FOR WOMEN OF WALMART

Statement by UFCW International President Joe Hansen

(Washington, DC) – UFCW International President Joseph Hansen released the following statement:

“A sharply divided Supreme Court closed the door on millions of women working at Walmart today and overturned 40 years of legal precedence in discrimination cases. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that Walmart’s written general discrimination policy was proof enough to overturn a lower court’s determination that Walmart women could join together to address widespread gender discrimination claims as a class. This decision does not make any ruling on the merits of the women’s discrimination claims.

“Today’s decision is deeply disturbing. The highest court in our nation has turned its back on collective remedy for workers facing widespread injustices. The UFCW will continue to demand accountability from Walmart to its workers who deserve fair treatment, fair pay and respect on the job.

“Last week, thousands of Walmart workers announced the Organization United for Respect at Walmart because workers know that they are stronger as a group. Employers like Walmart have long attempted to isolate workers and prevent them from solving problems together. This decision will not stop workers from joining together, through collective action, or prevent them from continuing to pursue their individual claims against Walmart.

The UFCW believes that Walmart is not too big for justice and will continue to hold Walmart to fair workplace standards. Its 1.4 million associates deserve better.”

Making Change at Walmart seeks to promote the American values of equality, dignity and respect in the workplace. The campaign is making change by working directly with Walmart Associates to claim the respect on the job they deserve, holding Walmart corporate managers accountable to hourly employees and the public for their practices and joining with community leaders in major cities across America to make sure that any new jobs offered by Walmart meet strong standards for healthy, growing communities.

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, immigration reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org.

Has the Supreme Court lost faith in the American court system? That is a strange question to ask about the justices who sit at the top of the country's judicial hierarchy. But in case after case in the just-completed term, the court, usually in 5-4 decisions with the conservatives in the majority, denied access to the courts.

Consider just a few of the examples:

• The court held that standard clauses in consumer contracts calling for arbitration preclude consumers from joining class-action suits even when the effect almost surely would be that no individual lawsuits would be filed because the amount involved was too small.

• The court decided that employees who claim to be victims of sex discrimination cannot sue in class actions when the employer has a policy that prohibits discrimination.

• The court concluded that a man who spent 18 years in prison for a murder that he did not commit could not sue the prosecutors who hid key evidence.

• The court said that taxpayers cannot bring an action in federal court arguing that a state impermissibly established religion by giving tax credits that go almost entirely to religious schools.

• The court held that prisoners convicted in state court cannot obtain a hearing in federal court even when they have new evidence that calls into question their convictions — because of matters such as ineffective defense counsel or failure of prosecutors to turn over evidence — notwithstanding a federal statute that expressly authorizes such hearings.

Discount giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced a multibillion-dollar initiative to promote female workers and women-owned businesses as part of an effort to improve its corporate image.

The move came as the nation's largest retailer continues to deal with accusations that it doesn't have an equal workplace. The Bentonville, Ark., company may face individual claims of sex discrimination after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a class-action suit by female workers in June.