Steve Savicki
10-13-2006, 03:37 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061013/bs_nm/retail_walmart_damages_dc
A Pennsylvania jury said on Friday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - news), the world's largest retailer, must pay $78.47 million in damages to current and former Pennsylvania employees for forcing them to work "off the clock" or during rest breaks.
On Thursday, a state jury in Philadelphia found in favor of Michelle Braun and Dolores Hummel, formerly employed by Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, saying the company violated Pennsylvania labor laws by failing to pay employees for the work.
The jury found in Wal-Mart's favor on the charge that it denied workers meal breaks.
In December a California jury ruled that Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, should pay $172 million in damages and compensation to about 116,000 current and former employees for denying meal breaks.
Plaintiffs in the 2001 California lawsuit claimed that Wal-Mart had failed to pay hourly employees for missed or interrupted meal breaks. Wal-Mart has said it took steps to ensure meal breaks for its employees, including deploying technology to shut down cash registers if cashiers do not respond to alerts for breaks.
Wal-Mart shares were up two cents at $48.30 on the
New York Stock Exchange on Friday afternoon.
<center>'bout time. Not even lawyers got Wally World out of this.
This will hurt their reputation though I don't know how bad.</center>
A Pennsylvania jury said on Friday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - news), the world's largest retailer, must pay $78.47 million in damages to current and former Pennsylvania employees for forcing them to work "off the clock" or during rest breaks.
On Thursday, a state jury in Philadelphia found in favor of Michelle Braun and Dolores Hummel, formerly employed by Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, saying the company violated Pennsylvania labor laws by failing to pay employees for the work.
The jury found in Wal-Mart's favor on the charge that it denied workers meal breaks.
In December a California jury ruled that Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, should pay $172 million in damages and compensation to about 116,000 current and former employees for denying meal breaks.
Plaintiffs in the 2001 California lawsuit claimed that Wal-Mart had failed to pay hourly employees for missed or interrupted meal breaks. Wal-Mart has said it took steps to ensure meal breaks for its employees, including deploying technology to shut down cash registers if cashiers do not respond to alerts for breaks.
Wal-Mart shares were up two cents at $48.30 on the
New York Stock Exchange on Friday afternoon.
<center>'bout time. Not even lawyers got Wally World out of this.
This will hurt their reputation though I don't know how bad.</center>