By Lorna Brett

Wal-Mart has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to block a single class-action it’s facing from up to 1.5 million female employees who allege the retailer paid them less than it paid men who performed the same jobs.

The retailer is appealing a 6-5 lower court decision which is allowing women who have been employed at Wal-Mart since 2001 to take part in a single class-action lawsuit.

According to www.smh.com.au, the affected employees are seeking billions of dollars in back pay, but Wal-Mart has told the U.S. Supreme Court Justices that the claims of workers from across the country are too diverse to undertake in a single case under the rules that govern federal lawsuits.
 

“The ruling upholding the class in this case is well within the mainstream that courts at all levels have recognised for decades. Only the size of the case is unusual, and that is a product of Wal-Mart’s size and the breadth of the discrimination we documented,” one of the workers attorney’s Brad Seligman said.
 

Wal-Mart is also accused of giving female workers fewer promotions, but the retailer has staunchly disputed the claims stating that no pay disparity exists and that promotion decisions are made at the discretion of store managers.
 

 “Wal-Mart is an excellent place for women to work and has been recognised as a leader in fostering the advancement and success of women in the workplace,” the company said in a statement.