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The following is not meant to be legal advice.

On February 6, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling in Dukes, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Nos. 04- 16688 & 04-16720 (9th Cir. Feb. 6, 2007).  The case was a nationwide gender discrimination class action of nearly 1.5 million current and former employees challenging Wal-Mart’s pay and promotional practices as discriminatory.

On the facts, the case began in 2000, when Betty Dukes filed a sex discrimination claim against Wal-Mart in California. Dukes claimed that she and other women were denied opportunities to advance to higher, salaried positions. A majority of the Ninth Circuit panel determined that Dukes and the other plaintiffs presented enough evidence to certify an employment discrimination class that affected more than 3,400 Wal-Mart stores across the country.