Wal-Mart ranks last among retailers in terms of equity and fairness for women, according to a study published by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

In 1995, after receiving unwanted sexual propositions from her supervisors and informing management to no avail about the situation, a Missouri woman was awarded $50 million by a jury in her suit against Wal-Mart, although the punitive damages have been reduced through Wal-Mart's appeal. In 1997, two New Mexico women who faced sexual harassment at their Wal-Mart store were awarded $1.9 million by a jury. In 1995, a Texas woman was awarded $100,000 in punitive damages for Wal-Mart's treatment of her after she started dating a black man.

Women hold two out of every three jobs in the retail industry and, consequently, are most affected by Wal-Mart's low wages and lack of affordable health insurance. For example, of the six out of 10 Wal-Mart employees who do not have company-provided health care coverage, four of those six are women workers.

Women, the backbone of Wal-Mart's workforce, suffer under unequal pay and discrimination in advancement and job assignments. 65% of the company's hourly employees are women, but these workers earn 37 cents an hour less than male hourly employees for the same work. Women working at Wal-Mart make on average 4.5-5.6% less than men for the same work. As females move up the ladder, the disparity between their wages and what males earn widens -- even though women have greater average seniority and higher average performance ratings.

On June 19, 2001 current and former female Wal-Mart employees filed a massive nationwide sex discrimination class action lawsuit in U. S. District Court against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (No.: C 01-2252 MJJ). The suit is the largest class action lawsuit ever with well over 1 million participants.

The suit charges that Wal-Mart discriminates against its female employees in promotions, compensation and job assignments. It claims that women are predominately assigned to the lowest paying positions and are systematically denied advancement opportunities.* To learn more about legal claims you may have in a class action sex discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart, visit the Wal-Mart Class Action Website.

*UFCW is distributing information about the lawsuit. UFCW is not a party to the lawsuit and did not bring the lawsuit.