Megaretailer Wal-Mart, called the country’s largest private employer, has agreed to pay $11.7 million to settle a class-action sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In addition to the money, the settlement announced on March 1 requires Wal-Mart to provide jobs to class members as they become available.
The EEOC’s suit claimed that Wal-Mart’s London, Kentucky, distribution center denied jobs to female applicants from 1998 through February 2005. During that time, the EEOC claims the employer regularly hired male entry-level applicants for warehouse positions but excluded female applicants who were equally or better qualified. The EEOC alleged that Wal-Mart regularly used gender stereotypes in filling entry-level order filler jobs. Hiring officials told applicants that order-filling positions weren’t suitable for women and that they hired mainly 18- to 25-year-old males.
The settlement requires Wal-Mart to provide order filler jobs, as they become available, to eligible and interested female class members as determined by a claims administrator. Wal-Mart will fill the first 50 available order filler positions with female class members. For the next 50 positions, female class members will be offered every other job. Thereafter, every third position will be offered to female class members.
The settlement is thought to be the largest ever against Wal-Mart in a single discrimination suit, according to a report in The Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader.
A statement from Wal-Mart said the EEOC filed the complaint on August 24, 2001, on behalf of former Wal-Mart associate Janice Smith, who had sought a transfer to the distribution center. The EEOC later added other women to the suit.
The company issued a statement saying it’s “pleased that this matter has been resolved.” It also said the case doesn’t reflect the company’s “continuing commitment to build an even more diverse and inclusive workplace through hiring and training initiatives.”
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