The Hazard of Dukes
April 6, 2011On March 29 the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The class action lawsuit involves, potentially, 1.5 million female Wal-Mart employees and ex-employees claiming gender discrimination in terms of pay and promotions. The potential liability Wal-Mart faces is in the billions of dollars. However, the case is more significant for class action procedural issues than for any substantive employment-related issues.
The lawsuit has been certified as a class action under two different procedural rules. First, the suit was certified under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b), which relates only to class action claims for injunctive or declaratory relief. Wal-Mart has argued that the plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages which are clearly more important than any injunctive or declaratory relief which they are seeking. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the class action, indicated that the plaintiffs’ claims for monetary damages did not “predominate” over their request for other relief.
The Supreme Court also ordered the parties to brief and argue whether certification is consistent under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a), which sets forth the class action requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality and adequacy of representation. It is difficult to conceive of a set of circumstances under which 1.5 million females, located in stores across the country and supervised by thousands of different managers, can meet the rule’s requirement that their claims of gender bias all arose from some common plan or scheme stemming from Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters.
According to those who were present at the oral argument, the questions posed by the Justices to the attorneys for both sides seemed to be more sympathetic to Wal-Mart. Several justices sharply questioned whether such a large number of women could be discriminated against without a showing of an “unlawful” policy coming from corporate headquarters. The court is likely to issues a decision in the case prior to the end of its term in late June. We will be sure to update you as soon as the ruling is announced.