Wal-Mart lawsuit settlement costs could reach $640 million

The legal team at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is trying to begin a new year with far fewer lawsuits on its workload, but at a cost of as much as $640 million for the company.

The Bentonville-based retailer said Tuesday (Dec. 23) that it and plaintiffs’ counsel for 63 wage and hour class action lawsuits would settle the actions out of court.

Under the agreements, the total will be at least $352 million, but no more than $640 million. Also, as part of the settlements, Wal-Mart will continue to use electronic systems and other measures designed to maintain compliance with its wage and hour policies and applicable law. 

A $250 million after-tax charge will hit the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings as a result of the settlement.
 
“Resolving this litigation is in the best interest of our company, our shareholders and our
associates,” said Tom Mars, executive vice president and general counsel for Wal-Mart. “Many of these lawsuits were filed years ago and the allegations are not representative of the company we are today.” 

This is the second major settlement announcement made in December.

Wal-Mart announced Dec. 9 it agreed to pay up to $54.25 million to settle a wage and hour class action lawsuit. That lawsuit, Braun et al. vs Wal-Mart, included about 100,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees in Minnesota.

Link here for a full list of the cases covered by the settlements announced Dec. 23.