Wal-Mart faces a massive class-action
lawsuit brought on behalf of workers who accuse Walmart of
locking workers in closed stores; forcing them to breathe hazardous
fumes from industrial cleaners; supplying them with faulty or unsafe
equipment, such as unguarded fans; and setting workweeks in excess of 40 hours without offering overtime pay." The class-action lawsuit brought in
November 2003 in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in
Newark seeks restitution for the workers. Though Wal-Mart filed a
motion to dismiss the case in March 2004, the judge has already
certified that the claimants can sue under the Fair Labor Standards
Act. The judge is currently deciding whether to uphold the workers'
racketeering claim against the company. Labor attorney James Linsey is confident that the racketeering claims will also stand. "That leaves Wal-Mart in a bit of dilemma,"
Linsey says. "They'll be under some amount of pressure to do the right
thing and settle with the people, because they don't like being called
racketeers." [more] and [more]
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