Walmart Settles EEOC Sex Discrimination Suit

Walmart Stores ("Walmart) will pay approximately $11.7 million in back wages and com­pen­satory damages, its share of employer taxes, and up to $250,000 in administration fees and will furnish other relief, including jobs, to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Walmart’s London, Kentucky distribution center denied jobs to female applicants from 1998 through February 2005. During that time period, the EEOC alleged, Walmart regularly hired male entry-level applicants for warehouse positions, but excluded female appli­cants who were equally or better qualified. The EEOC also alleged in the lawsuit that Walmart regularly used gender stereotypes in filling entry-level order filler positions.