Women File Third Sex-Bias Lawsuit Against Wal-Mart

Three Tennessee women claim in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. discriminates against female employees by denying them raises and promotions.

Phipps, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville by the women’s attorneys.

The case is the third regional lawsuit filed against the world’s largest retailer since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned class-action status last year in a national suit that sought to represent up to 1.5 million women.

A judge in California recently rejected a motion by Wal-Mart to dismiss a case in that state, but has yet to rule on the plaintiffs’ request to be certified as a statewide class.

In October 2011, a similar suit was filed in Texas.

The plaintiffs in the Tennessee suit seek to represent thousands of current and former employees — with the exception of store managers and pharmacists — of stores in Wal-Mart’s Region 43. That covers Tennessee and parts of Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.

The class includes women who worked at Wal-Mart at any time since Dec. 26, 1998.