Reuters reports that Costco has won a court decision that prevents 600 current and former female employees from suing it for gender discrimination, as the judge in the case cited the ruling earlier this year by the US Supreme Court that 1.5 million women could not sue Walmart on similar grounds.
According to the story, the women in the Costco case wanted class action status for their suit that claimed the retailer “made it harder for them to be promoted to general manager or assistant general manager, in part because it failed to post job openings.”
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said that upon review, the judge who originally granted the case class action status had not used the correct legal standard - especially in view of the Walmart decision - though the possibility remains that the district judge in the case could once again rule, using the correct standard, that the cases have enough in common to qualify as a class action.
The original case had been filed in 2007, but was put on hold while the Walmart case worked its way through the courts.
According to the story, the women in the Costco case wanted class action status for their suit that claimed the retailer “made it harder for them to be promoted to general manager or assistant general manager, in part because it failed to post job openings.”
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said that upon review, the judge who originally granted the case class action status had not used the correct legal standard - especially in view of the Walmart decision - though the possibility remains that the district judge in the case could once again rule, using the correct standard, that the cases have enough in common to qualify as a class action.
The original case had been filed in 2007, but was put on hold while the Walmart case worked its way through the courts.
- KC's View:
