ECONOMICS REPORT - Up to 1.6 Million Female Employees Could

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - Up to 1.6 Million Female² Employees Could Be Included in Sex-Discrimination Case Against Wal-Mart
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, July 02, 2004

This is Bob Doughty³ with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

A class-action lawsuit⁴ is a legal case brought by a group of people who seek to represent a much larger group. In two-thousand-one, six women brought a case against Wal-Mart Stores. They say the company pays female employees, on average, five to fifteen percent less than men for the same work. Treating employees differently based on their sex is an illegal form of discrimination.

Last week a federal⁵ judge in California ruled that the case can go forward as a class action. It could become the biggest sex-discrimination lawsuit in American history. It could involve as many as one-point-six million women employed by Wal-Mart now or in the past. These include the six who brought the case.

Wal-Mart is based in Bentonville, Arkansas. It is the largest private employer⁶ in the world. It has more than one-million employees. Wal-Mart sells all kinds of low-price goods in its stores. The company reported profits of nine-thousand-million dollars last year.

Wal-Mart says it has no policy of discrimination against women. It says decisions about jobs are usually made locally at its more than three-thousand stores across the country.

Women make up about two-thirds of all the Wal-Mart workers who are paid by the hour. But only about one-third of supervisors⁷ are women. And women represent just fourteen percent of the top officials in the company.

The percentage of women in top jobs is twenty points lower than the average of the twenty largest sellers⁸ in the country. Lawyers for the women presented these numbers based on information reported to the Department of Labor⁹. Wal-Mart says women do not seek top positions as often as men.

Judge Martin Jenkins in San Francisco did not rule on the arguments in the case. Wal-Mart said his ruling simply showed that the judge believes the case meets the legal requirements for a class action. The company said it would appeal.

Wal-Mart argues that such a large class action is not fair. It says the court would need years to hear all the evidence. The company wants the right to answer claims individually.

If the case remains¹⁰ a class action, legal experts say pressure will build on Wal-Mart to reach a settlement. That could mean paying thousands of millions of dollars to current and former employees. But a settlement would avoid a trial, and the risk of having to pay even more.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

3 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

4 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

5 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

6 employer   

n.雇用方，雇主

参考例句：

• My employer deducted ten pounds from my wages this week.我的雇主从我本周的工钱中扣除了十英镑。
• His monthly salary is paid into the bank by his employer.他的月薪由雇主替他存入银行。

7 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

8 sellers   

n.卖者( seller的名词复数 )；卖方；销售者；销售商

参考例句：

• buyers and sellers transacting business 进行交易的买方和卖方
• All manner of hawkers and street sellers were plying their trade. 形形色色的沿街小贩都在做着自己的买卖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。