Pay equity and workers’ rights on the line at the Supreme Court today

This morning, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, to determine whether the women employed at Wal-Mart stores across the country can join together in a class action lawsuit to challenge pay and promotion practices that discriminate against women.

If Wal-Mart succeeds in keeping these women from joining together, the already uphill battle for women to fight pay discrimination will get even worse. The court’s ruling will affect women who face pay discrimination around the country, for generations to come.

Ten years ago a group of women who worked at Wal-Mart stores filed a lawsuit alleging that their employer engaged in company-wide sex discrimination, by paying women less than men, promoting fewer women to management positions, and promoting male employees more quickly. Today, the brave women of Wal-Mart stood up against pay discrimination, and we stood with them in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as part of a broad coalition of organizations to support their effort.