Learn
more about Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores
For immediate release: 8/3/05
Contact: Ingrid Tischer, Equal Rights Advocates
415-621-0672, ext. 381
itischer@equalrights.org
U.S. COURT OF
APPEALS TO HEAR WAL-MART’S APPEAL FROM CLASS ACTION
CERTIFICATION DECISION IN MAJOR SEX DISCRIMINATION CASE
WHAT: Appeal and cross appeal arguments regarding class
certification of Dukes, et al. v. Wal-Mart (Civ. 01-2252)
WHEN: Monday, August 8, 2005 - 1:30 P.M. (PST)
WHERE: U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
James R. Browning Courthouse
95 Seventh Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA
WHO: The circuit court panel will be comprised of the Honorable
Judges Harry Pregerson, Michael Daly Hawkins, and Andrew
J. Kleinfeld.
Plaintiffs’ legal team includes The Impact Fund (Berkeley,
CA); Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll (Washington, D.C.);
Equal Rights Advocates (San Francisco, CA), Davis, Cowell
& Bowe (San Francisco, CA), Tinkler & Firth (Santa
Fe, NM), law offices of Merit Bennett (Santa Fe, NM), and
the Public Justice Center (Baltimore, MD). Brad Seligman,
of The Impact Fund, will present the plaintiffs’ argument.
Wal-Mart is represented by Theodore J. Boutrous, Gibson,
Dunn & Crutcher (Los Angeles, CA).
FOR THE PRESS: Representative plaintiffs and their lawyers
will be available for comment immediately following the
hearing.
BACKGROUND: On August 8, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit will hear argument in the sex discrimination
case Dukes, et al. v. Wal-Mart (Civ. 01-2252). At issue
is the certification of the case as a class action by the
U.S. District Court on June 21, 2004 in San Francisco, California.
This decision expanded a case brought by six female current
and former employees to include more than 1.6 million women
in the United States, making it the largest civil rights
case in U. S. history.
Wal-Mart has argued in its briefs that due process guarantees
it the right to defend the claim of each class member individually
and, therefore, that the class certified is unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs, relying upon long-standing authority from
the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts, contend that this
denies the very nature of class actions. The plaintiffs
also cite the strong control Wal-Mart exerts over its promotion
and compensation policies, the common personnel policies
throughout its stores, and the consistent statistical disparities
between men and women in pay and promotions as ample support
for the class to be certified. This case will have a major
impact on the future of large class actions.
If the Court of Appeals affirms the class certification
decision, the case will proceed to trial in the U.S. District
Court in San Francisco. Additional information about the
case is at www.walmartclass.com and www.equalrights.org.
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