Supreme Court

On June 29, 2011, Marcia D. Greenberger, on behalf of NWLC, submitted written testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Barriers to Justice and Accountability: How the Supreme Court's Recent Rulings Will Affect Corporate Behavior.

The written statement focuses on the Supreme Court’s decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes and discusses the the importance of class actions in the employment discrimination context and illuminates how the decision could cause great injury for women in the workplace

On March 29, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Wal-Mart v. Dukes,  to determine whether the women employed at Wal-Mart stores across the country can join together in a class action to challenge pay and promotion practices alleged to discriminate against women.  To establish that they should be allowed to bring their case together, as a class, the women employees presented statistics in the courts below showing that female workers at Wal-Mart earned less than comparable male workers and were less likely to be promoted.   Those disparities were bolstered by evidence that Wal-Mart’s corporate policies and practices allowed for sex-stereotyping to operate as the driving principle in the pay and promotion decisions for its women employees.  Experts concluded that Wal-Mart's policies and corporate culture perpetuated these sorts of gender stereotypes across the entire company.  The plaintiffs’ evidence speaks for itself—and squarely establishes that a class should proceed.