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US Supreme Court Asked to Halt Proceedings in Largest Discrimination Class Suit
Sexual Discrimination – Employment and Labor Law Federal News August 25, 2010
San Francisco – Retail giant Wal-Mart has filed a petition asking the US Supreme Court Wednesday to halt the large sex-discrimination class action suit brought by its women workers, reports said.
The appeal was based on an April ruling of the 9th US Court of Appeals which allowed the lawsuit to proceed and authorized the class action. The workers charged that Wal-Mart allegedly practiced widespread discrimination in its pay and promotion practices.
The lawsuit involved more than 1 million women workers of the store and could also involved billions of dollars in damages.
Wal-Mart however issued a statement which said that the 9th Circuit’s opinion dealt only with class certification and not with the merits of the lawsuit.
In the appeal, Wal-Mart said the appellate court’s ruling is detrimental to business.
A lawyer representing the women workers said the appeal was just an attempt to deny the workers their day in court.
The litigation has been going through the federal courts of California for nine years, including six at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The case is Dukes v Walmart in 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 04-16688.
Unemployment Benefits for Jobless Workers Extended
Employment and Labor Law (Federal News) July 22, 2010
Washington – Nearly 2.5 million unemployed individuals will continue to receive unemployment benefits after President Barack Obama has signed into law the bill that would extend jobless benefits to them. The measure had earlier passed the US House and Senate.
The law would extend unemployment insurance through November for those who have not yet exhausted up to 99 weeks of aid. The benefits would be retroactive to late May, the time when the previous extension had expired.
Unemployment benefits vary from state to state but generally expire after 26 weeks.
Meanwhile, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) has announced the start of processing retroactive benefits for more than 400,000 unemployed people in the state.
EDD chief deputy director Pam Harris said state workers are called on duty through the weekend to issue checks to eligible claimants.