Walmart Violated Worker Rights More than 2 Million Times.
Walmart violated the law more than 2 million times over a
six-year period by denying workers time for breaks and forcing them to work "off the clock" for no pay, a Minnesota judge has ruled. Dakota County District Judge Robert King ordered the company to pay $6.5 million in back pay. In addition, Walmart faced fines as high as $2 billion for the wage-and-hour violations. The case ultimately ended in settlement, with Walmart paying out $54 million in lost wages [Workday Minnesota, 7/2/08; Associated Press, 12/9/08]

Walmart faces the nation's largest workplace gender-bias lawsuit. In June 2004, U.S. District Court Judge Martin Jenkins granted class-action status to 1.6 million current and former female Walmart employees who charge the company with paying women less and offering them fewer opportunities for promotion. The class is comprised of all current and former female employees employed between December 26, 1998, and the present. [Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. C01-02252 MJJ (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California).]

Off-the-Clock Work. In 2000, Walmart paid $50 million to settle a lawsuit that involved 69,000 workers in Colorado who had allegedly been forced to work off the clock. In 2002, a federal grand jury in Oregon found Walmart employees were forced to work off the clock and awarded back pay to 83 workers. In December 2005, Walmart was ordered to pay $172 million to 116,000 current and former California workers for violating a 2001 state law that requires employers to give 30-minute, unpaid lunch breaks to employees who work at least six hours. In the United States, Walmart has 53 class action lawsuits over wage and hour violations. [New York Times, 11/19/04; Associated Press, 2/17/04; Associated Press, 9/19/05; Associated Press, 12/22/05.]

Discourages Open and Free Communication. In June 2009, Walmart filed for an injunction with the Quebec Superior Court against this website, which has been helping associates to know their rights as workers since 2003 (www.walmartworkerscanada.ca/freespeech).

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