Wal-Mart Stores will have to pay $188 million in a workers’ class action lawsuit.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered Wal-Mart to compensate employees who had sued the retailer for failing to pay them for rest breaks and all hours worked. But Wal-Mart says it may take the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ruling hit Wal-Mart’s bottom line hard. Its earnings for the quarter ending on Jan. 31 were reduced by 6 cents a share, which amounts to about 4 percent of its profit forecast of $1.46 to $1.56 for the period. But Wal-Mart shares were later up 0.5 percent at $84.39, reports Reuters.
This lawsuit has been going on for some time now. Since 2007 to be exact. Now the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has decided to uphold a 2007 lower court ruling in favor of the workers, and their claims of Wal-Mart’s failure to pay them wht they’re owed and practices that prevented them from taking full meal and rest breaks. The decision affects about 187,000 Wal-Mart employees who worked in Pennsylvania between 1998 and 2006.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan disagrees. “Wal-Mart has had strong policies in place to make sure all associates receive their appropriate pay and break periods,” she said.
