A Minnesota state judge has ruled that Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) violated state laws involving rest breaks and wage-related issues two million times and could face $2 billion in damages. The judge is threatening to impose a fine of $1,000 for each offense. He also ruled that the company pay current and former employees $6.5 million in compensation for contractual violations.The second phase of the trial will begin on October 20 when a jury will decide on damages. Wal-Mart says it disagrees with portions of the decision and may appeal.
Judge Robert R. King Jr. said that Wal-Mart's audits revealed that the company was aware of the problems but "put its head in the sand" and chose to do nothing. This is just the latest chapter in Wal-Mart's one step forward, two steps back effort to change its public image.
Regardless of where you stand on Wal-Mart (I am ambivalent), this decision is good news. It shows that the legal system is working and will hold the company responsible when it breaks the law. Two billion dollars in damages is a lot of of money, even for Wal-Mart, and it may inspire the company to be more vigilant in making sure that its labor practices comply with the law.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-01-2008 @ 5:39PM
william lindblad said...
I hardly think that Wal-Mart is much different than any other U.S. company, past and present. If they all treated employees fairly there would never have been any unions. The chain gets accused of unfair business tactics on a regular basis. They are the good guys if you compare them to NCR. Try that history. They are not running sweat shops either.
They can't be all that bad as if that were true, they would not be able to keep people employed and would have massive turnover. They are certainly not the first to violate State labor laws and it's unlikely that they will pay anywhere near the amount stated. All they have to do is make a public statement that Minn. is treating them un-fairly, and close a few stores. Would you like to bet against the lose of tax rateables and jobs not turning public opinion?