Catherwood LibraryILR School

Wal-Mart will face a lawsuit claiming pay discrimination against more than a million female employees after a court approved the action. A federal appeals court upheld a 2004 ruling giving the lawsuit class action status, sanctioning claims from up to 1.5 million current and former staff. Should it lose the case, the world's largest retailer could have to pay damages worth billions of dollars. Wal-Mart has said it did not have a policy discriminating against women. The original lawsuit was filed in 2001 by six women who either worked for Wal-Mart or had done so in the past. A lawyer representing the women said they had "been waiting years for this decision."