Lavish Pay at Harvard

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Abstract Betty Dukes was a Wal-Mart employee that filed a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart. She and five other women felt Wal-Mart had discriminated against them as women after they were subject to retaliation and witnessed unfair pay and promotion practices. Not only did they feel the individual stores discriminated against them, but that this was part of a larger corporate culture the Wal-Mart Corporation had promoted. Dukes and plaintiffs claimed women between 1996 and 2001 working for Wal-Mart had been subject to these sexual discriminatory practices and were entitled to justice. Wal-Mart argued it had a strict anti-discriminatory policy and that Wal-Mart Corporation as a whole should not be held accountable for a few bad choices made by a few managers in a few stores. Sex Discrimination at Wal-Mart Betty Dukes was an employee at a Wal-Mart store in Pittsburg, California. She came to Wal-Mart with several years of retail experience and know-how. In May 1994, she started as a part-time cashier. After nearly a year, she was promoted to full time and received a pay increase. After nearly two years, she was promoted to customer service manager. She was given hope for further advancement. This was the last time management seemed to encourage her to further her career at Wal-Mart. Dukes claims she began receiving discriminatory treatment from the head of her department. She reported the actions to the District Manager. Dukes then claimed she began to receive retaliation after her complaints and reports. She began being written up for rules violations. These violations were rarely enforced for other employees. Dukes was eventually demoted back down to cashier and received a pay cut. Dukes still desired to climb Wal-Mart’s corporate ladder. However, she was no longer being given the opportunity as open positions were not posted and/or

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