By Stephanie Armour
USA Today

A sexual-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores has been certified as a class action representing more than 1.6 million current and former employees, making it the largest civil rights case ever.

The landmark ruling, released Tuesday by federal Judge Martin Jenkins in San Francisco, means a June 2001 lawsuit by six current and former Wal-Mart employees in California will be broadened to cover women who worked at Wal-Mart's stores nationwide since Dec. 26, 1998 - a population as large as Philadelphia.

It also means Wal-Mart faces damages that could be much more costly in a jury verdict or settlement.

Wal-Mart officials say they will appeal. The ruling could prompt other companies to examine their own pay scales to avoid similar discrimination claims.

"(The case) has implications for any large organization in the retail field,'' says Paul Tobias, a Cincinnati employee rights lawyer. "Women... have been second-class citizens in the workplace for many years... These lawsuits are designed to remedy that."

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had vigorously fought the class-action certification. Officials had argued that they don't discriminate and that any complaints were isolated. They had objected to the class action on several grounds, including the sheer size of the class.

The women who filed the case against Wal-Mart are two current and four former employees. They claim women are paid 5 percent to 15 percent less than men in comparable positions, despite having higher performance ratings and seniority, and receive fewer promotions to management than men.

The judge ruled that Wal-Mart's size and the size of the potential class are not too large to prevent class-action status, says Jocelyn Larkin, litigation counsel for The Impact Fund, a Berkeley, Calif., nonprofit group representing the plaintiffs.

"This is a company-wide practice," Larkin says. "They are the largest employer in America, and everyone is watching this."

Wal-Mart officials said in a statement the ruling has "absolutely nothing" to do with the merits of the case and that they "strongly disagree" with it.

The women are seeking changes in how Wal-Mart operates, including a court-appointed monitor to oversee employment practices, back earnings for women in the class, and punitive damages.

In recent years, major employers have paid millions of dollars to settle similar claims from smaller numbers of plaintiffs. Most have been settled before trial. In 1997, Home Depot settled a sex-bias lawsuit for $104 million for a class of more than 25,000 women.

The class-action certification comes as the retail giant faces a number of labor troubles, including initiatives by unions and lawsuits claiming the company works employees off the clock without paying overtime.

Still, the class-action certification could have far-reaching implications for Wal-Mart, says Bill Hart, president of the Employers Resource Association, a non-profit human resource organization in Bond Hill.

Says Hart: "Obviously, any class-action lawsuit can potentially be not only expensive but time consuming - and potentially can be morale boosters and morale killers at companies.''

Enquirer staff writer Justin Fenton contributed.