Walmart likely discriminates against female workers, says US agency

Walmart Inc. likely discriminated against 178 women workers by paying them less, denying them promotions, or both, because of their gender, said the US Commission for Equal Opportunities in Jobs in memos. consulted by Reuters.

The agency asked Walmart and the women who had complained to reach a "fair settlement", which could include a settlement and modifications of Walmart's employment practices, after finding a "reasonable motive" "to believe that there was discrimination based on sex. The memos were published in July and watched by Reuters on Tuesday after their first Wall Street Journal publication.

Walmart, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, is the world's largest retailer and the largest private employer in the United States with 1.5 million employees.

Walmart told EEOC that he was ready to engage in a "conciliation process", although in most cases, the agency's findings on reasonable grounds were "vague and nonspecific," said Randy Hargrove, spokesman for Walmart.

The cases concerned allegations of more than 15 years, he said, and "were not representative of the positive experiences of millions of women working at Walmart".

Joseph Sellers, the women's attorney, said that at least 1,600 similar complaints were pending before the EEOC, accusing Walmart of discriminating against women in compensation and promotions between 1999 and 2011. Approximately 150 lawsuits against Walmart, covering the same period, were pending. waiting in federal courts across the country, he said.

In 2011, Walmart convinced the US Supreme Court not to allow about 1.5 million workers to complain about wages and promotions in a class action lawsuit, with the majority of judges concluding that women did not have enough in common to continue as a group.

The vendors, who represented Walmart workers in the case, said the memos released in July involved women working in Walmart stores in more than 30 states. This suggests a general pattern of wage discrimination rather than isolated cases that can be attributed to local officials, Sellers said.

The EEOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If Walmart can not reach an agreement with women, the EEOC could sue the company or allow women to bring their own.

The sellers declined to comment on the state of progress of negotiations for a settlement.