MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy says a Supreme Court ruling in favor of Wal-Mart in a sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of female employees makes it harder to hold corporations accountable under the country’s civil rights laws.
Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Monday that an activist court majority is making it more and more difficult for any American to have their day in court.
The justices agreed that the lawsuit could not proceed as a class action in its current form. By a 5-4 vote, the court said there were too many women in too many jobs at Wal-Mart to wrap into one lawsuit.
The lawsuit could have involved up to 1.6 million women, with Wal-Mart facing potentially billions of dollars in damages.
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