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N.J. Supreme Court OKs Wal-Mart Class Action Suit

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May 31, 2007 7:20 am US/Pacific

N.J. Supreme Court OKs Wal-Mart Class Action Suit

(CBS)

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: A Wal-Mart employee pushes shopping carts toward a store entrance. (File)
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The state Supreme Court on Thursday certified a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. by New Jersey employees who claim that the nation's largest retailer denied them meal and rest breaks, and forced them to work off-the-clock.

The 5-1 ruling by New Jersey's highest court revives the workers' lawsuit, which had been denied class-action status by a trial judge and an appellate panel.

The decision was welcomed by a lawyer for the workers, Judith L. Spanier, who said the class would contain about 80,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees. She said similar cases were pending in other states.

A spokesman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had no immediate comment on the ruling. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employs 1.3 million people in the U.S., according to company information.

The Supreme Court found that the class should be certified because common questions of law outweigh individual issues, and that the class-action lawsuit is the better method to handle the dispute.