A jury in Philadelphia said that Wal-Mart Stores must pay $78 million to its current and former Pennsylvania employees for not paying them when they worked through rest breaks and worked off the clock. Lawyers who brought the class action on behalf of 187,000 workers applauded the verdict and said they expected the judge to soon order Wal-Mart to pay $62 million more in damages because the jury had also found that Wal-Mart acted in bad faith. The verdict is a blow to Wal-Mart because it comes as the company has sought to portray itself as a generous law-abiding employer.
See "Wal-Mart Told to Pay $78 Million", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, October 15, 2006