- What did the Supreme Court decide in the Wal-Mart case? And more importantly, how did it justify its decision? (HINT: the key word here is “commonality” (and how it related to “class-action lawsuit”). Try to understand what this legal terms means, as it is key to the court’s decision).
In the Wal-Mart case, the Supreme Court ruled against allowing the class-action lawsuit to proceed. The Court’s decision hinged on the concept of “commonality,” which refers to whether the claims of the plaintiffs shared common legal or factual issues that could be resolved collectively. The Court found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate sufficient commonality among their claims to justify a class-action lawsuit. Essentially, the Court argued that the alleged gender discrimination was not the result of a company-wide policy or practice, but rather the actions of individual managers. Therefore, the Court reasoned that the claims lacked the necessary commonality required for class certification. This decision effectively made it more difficult for employees to pursue class-action lawsuits against large corporations for systemic discrimination, as each individual would need to prove their case separately rather than as part of a collective group.
