Documenting promotions, pay increases, and other changes in work status for all workers in order to avoid claims of discrimination or bias based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion or age is more important now than ever before. Walmart is being charged with the largest class action employment lawsuit in history, which was filed by six women who had previously been employed by Walmart.
The lawsuit charges that Walmart pays female employees less than men, and favors men over women for promotions. Typically, lawsuits such as this are handled on an individual basis, but “courts may allow plaintiffs who were harmed under similar circumstances by the same person or company to join together in a common class of litigants to pursue their lawsuit.”
Members of the class action lawsuit “held a multitude of jobs, at different levels of Wal-Mart’s hierarchy, for variable lengths of time, in 3,400 stores, sprinkled across 50 states, with a kaleidoscope of supervisors (male and female), subject to a variety of regional policies that all differed depending on each class member’s job, location and period of employment.” The class includes 1.5 million women who all are claiming that Walmart intentionally discriminated against them based on their gender.
Keeping accurate records and documentation about why your company hires, promotes, or fires one person over another is extremely important to avoid a situation like this. For helpful tips on hiring, firing, and managing personnel, HR Made Simple Users should log in.