Today Wal-Mart settled a lawsuit in Minnesota. It was just one of more than 72 wage and hour class action suits against Wal-Mart across the country. Wal-Mart has agreed to pay up to $54.25 million to workers and the state. They're paying the workers because they cheated them out of overtime pay, lunch breaks, and otherwise failed to pay them what they were owed. They're paying the state because they broke the law, a lot.
This isn't the first time Wal-Mart has paid for this transgression, nor will it be the last. Wal-Mart needs to keep paying until every employee they wronged to eke a little more profit out of them is paid back.
Link to the news story and Wake Up Wal-Mart's official comment after the jump.
You can read the full story here.
And you can read our official statement:
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2008
IT TAKES A COURT RULING FOR WAL-MART TO PAY EMPLOYEES FAIRLY
Today Wal-Mart agreed to pay up to $54.25 million to settle a Minnesota class action lawsuit, Braun et al. v. Wal-Mart, Inc. et al. The suit, one of many across the country over wage and hour labor violations, sought payment for around 100,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees.
"In such a tumultuous economy, the basic ideas of fair pay for honest work should be fundamental," said Meghan Scott, spokesperson for WakeUpWalMart.com, "It shouldn't take a court of a law to force America's largest corporation to pay their employees fairly. And it shouldn’t take a court of law to force America’s largest corporation to live by America's values. Wal-Mart workers should be able to go to the corporate office with issues like this, not be forced into the court system.
"To make matters worse, this case in Minnesota is just the tip of the iceberg. America’s largest private employer is currently involved in at least 72 wage and hour class action suits across the country. For years Wal-Mart systematically underpaid and overworked its employees to line its own pockets. While this one case represents a victory for those workers, it is certainly too little too late. It should never have come to this point.
"In this time of economic turmoil, hopefully Wal-Mart will learn to stand up for workers, rather than against them in courts across the country. Unfortunately, this is a company that we have seen time and again putting profits ahead of people."