NJ Supreme Court Allows Class Action Against Wal-Mart
An editorial in this morning's Newark Star-Ledger applauds "a little-noticed decision last week by the state Supreme Court that allows 72,000 current and former New Jersey employees to bring a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart." The decision in Iliadis v. Wal-Mart may not have attracted much notice from the public at large, but it is just a few days old and already is attracting lots of notice from employment lawyers. See preliminary reactions from Law.com, Bloomberg News (via Wal*Mart Watch), and New Jersey Lawyer.
We posted on this case on January 10, 2007, when the Appellate Division of NJ Superior Court affirmed a trial court's denial of class action status to a claim that could involve as many as 72,000 Wal-Mart employees. We noted that "a lot of dollars are riding on the outcome" of the pending appeal to the Supreme Court.
The plaintiffs allege that Wal-Mart violated statutes, regulations, and its own policies about how employees should be paid.
The Court's 5-1 opinion by Chief Justice Zazzali ordered (over the dissent of Justice Rivera-Soto) that the plaintiff class be certified, so the case will go forward as a class action. We will keep you informed as it does.