Panel on the Wal-Mart Gender Discrimination Lawsuit

The Orange County Lawyers Chaper

Speakers:

• Anthony J. Oncidi, lawyer, Proskauer Rose
• John Shu, lawyer
• Andrew H. Friedman, lawyer, Helmer & Friedman LLP
• Thomas V. Girardi, lawyer, Girardi and Keese
• William J. Brown, Jr. (Moderator), lawyer, Brown, Wegner & Berliner

Speakers:

• Anthony J. Oncidi, lawyer, Proskauer Rose
• John Shu, lawyer
• Andrew H. Friedman, lawyer, Helmer & Friedman LLP
• Thomas V. Girardi, lawyer, Girardi and Keese
• William J. Brown, Jr. (Moderator), lawyer, Brown, Wegner & Berliner

On March 29, 2011, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in the Case of Wal-Mart v. Dukes where the issue on appeal is the certification of 1.6 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees as a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2).  Attorneys on behalf of the proposed class have argued that the systemic discrimination has impacted all women employed at Wal-Mart and that this the high cost of litigation, in light of what are expected to be relatively small individual recoveries, requires that litigation proceed in this manner.  Wal-Mart has responded that the proposed class, which is larger than the combined active duty of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, is comprised of women at all levels of employment within the company and in a variety of different work environments and therefore lacks the element of commonality needed to certify a class.

Please join us on June 28 when our distinguished panel will debate the merits of this case and the future of class action litigation.