In March 1999, the EEOC San Francisco District Office filed this suit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., America's largest retail chain, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. We do not have a copy of the complaint. However, according to the docket and the Court's judgment, Wal-Mart violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, an EEOC press release states that Wal-Mart utilized a pre-employment questionnaire that sought information about possible disabilities from applicants before making offers of employment. After some discovery disputes and a failed settlement conference, the parties settled the case in December 2001 through a consent decree.

The very extensive four-year consent decree settled not only this case but also twelve other pending cases against Wal-Mart and required that Wal-Mart pay a total of $6,800,000 ($3,562,491.94 for this case and $3,237,508.10 for the other twelve). Additional requirements of the decree included: compliance with non-discrimination and non-retaliation clauses; establishment of a $3,000,000 settlement fund; posting of ADA compliance notices; appointment of a Claims Administrator, Special Master, and ADA Coordinator; ADA training; record keeping; audits; and performance evaluations.

Michele Marxkors - 06/04/2007


compress summary