Wal-Mart Class Action OK’d
The New Jersey Supreme Court is permitting Wal-Mart employees to pursue a class-action suit that claims they were forced to work off the clock.
The court ruled yesterday in Iliadis v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (PDF) that a class action is superior to other methods as a way to adjudicate the claims of current and former employees at 45 Wal-Mart and nine Sam’s Club stores in New Jersey.
The suit contends that Wal-Mart gives supervisors financial incentives to increase profits and decrease store expenses, producing an environment where the managers ignore company policy and violate workplace laws.
The lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Judith Spanier of New York City, told the New Jersey Law Journal that the state high court was merely following precedent. “I don’t think there is any change in the law in deciding to allow this to proceed as a class action,” she said.
Wal-Mart’s lawyer declined to comment.
