By ELIZABETH DUNBAR The Associated Press
Wed. Jul 2 - 5:39 AM
MINNEAPOLIS — A judge has ruled against Wal-Mart in a class-action lawsuit, saying the discount retailer violated state labour laws more than two million times, including cutting worker break time and "wilfully" allowing employees to work off the clock.
Dakota County Judge Robert King Jr. on Monday ordered Wal-Mart to pay US$6.5 million in compensatory damages, but Wal-Mart could end up paying more than $2 billion after a jury in October considers civil penalties and punitive damages.
"We believe that this award not only helps the individual clients, but it also sends a message to Wal-Mart that it has to pay for its mistakes," said Justin Perl, a lawyer representing the former Wal-Mart employees named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore said Tuesday that the Bentonville, Ark.-based company disagrees with portions of the judge’s decision and is considering an appeal.
"Our policy is to pay every associate for every hour worked and to make rest or meal breaks available to every employee," Moore said, adding that many Wal-Mart employees who testified during the trial said they were getting breaks and being paid properly.
"That said, we’re always going to take seriously any sort of allegations of our policy not being followed," she said.
Wal-Mart shares rose 66 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $56.87 in afternoon trading.
The class-action part of the lawsuit represented 56,000 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club employees in Minnesota and covered a period from September 1998 through January 2004.
The ruling, which was given to the parties Monday evening, comes after judgments against Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania and California found similar violations.
