© 2012 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden, JD
Senior Writer for The Texas Lawbook
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor has dismissed a proposed employment discrimination class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart because the statute of limitations has expired.
The lawsuit, which was filed one year ago in the Northern District of Texas by seven women who worked at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores during the past 14 years, claims that the company demonstrated gender bias by denying them promotions and paying them less than their male counterparts.
The lawsuit, which seeks injunctive relief and financial damages, claimed to represent more than 50,000 women who have worked at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores in Texas.
Dallas employment and labor lawyer Hal Gillespie, a partner at Gillespie, Rozen & Watsky, is representing the plaintiffs and will reportedly appeal Judge O’Connor’s decision to the U.S.Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Gibson Dunn has a team of lawyers representing Wal-Mart, including Dallas partners Karl Nelson and Veronica Lewis.
Similar lawsuits have been filed against Wal-Mart in a half-dozen other states. For more details on this litigation, here is a link to a great story on the case by Bloomberg News: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-15/wal-mart-wins-dismissal-of-texas-women-s-class-action.html. Bloomberg has done some terrific coverage of these cases.