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To (b)(2) or Not to (b)(2)?

By Linda S. Mullenix
July 30, 2004

Is there a person alive who does not know that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been sued in a gigantic class action? On June 21, U.S. District Judge Martin J. Jenkins of the Northern District of California certified the largest employment discrimination class action in American history. See Dukes v. Wal-mart Inc., No. C 01-02252 (N.D. Calif. 2004), 2004 U.S. Lexis 11365.

The putative class consists of approximately 1.5 million women who have been employed at 3400 Wal-Mart stores during the past 5 years. The magnitude of the class, and Wal-Mart's pervasive influence on American consumerism, guaranteed that Jenkins' certification order would commandeer media attention rivaling the other litigation spectacles du jour: Martha Stewart, Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, Kenneth Lay, etc.

Jenkins, too, perceived the historical significance of his decision. He noted that he was making his ruling “in a year that marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954),” which “serves as a reminder of the importance of the courts in addressing the denial of equal treatment under the law wherever and by whomever it occurs.”

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