Walmart employees have been cheated out of their well deserved money yet again. News reports from last Thursday reveal that Walmart won preliminary court approval to settle 30 lawsuits for only $85 million. The class action lawsuit was filed by Walmart employees in 29 different states. Employees had been denied their mandatory lunch breaks, overtime pay and even had their time cards intentionally changed by Walmart.

$85 million might seem like a lot of money, but that is for all 30 lawsuits. Last December, Walmart paid $54.25 million to workers in the state of Minnesota for ONE lawsuit. To truly compensate the workers (for backpay) and the States (for breaking wage and hour laws) Walmart should have to pay much more.

Here an excerpt of the article from Bloomberg:

Wal-Mart Wins Initial Approval for Wage Settlements

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, won preliminary court approval to pay as much as $85 million to settle 30 lawsuits claiming the company didn’t pay employees for all hours worked.

The settlement covers cases filed in federal courts in 29 states and Puerto Rico, according to court filings. The accord is part of a global $640 million resolution of wage-and-hour claims reached between Wal-Mart and workers in December.

The settlement is “fair, reasonable, and adequate,” U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro said in granting tentative approval today. The agreement was a “hard-fought compromise of claims that have been actively litigated before this court” since February 2006, he said.

The suits claimed that Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart violated wage and hours laws by denying workers rest breaks and manipulated time cards to “shave” their pay. The suits were filed as class actions, or group lawsuits, on behalf of all hourly workers in the individual states, including Alabama, Michigan, Maryland, Oregon and Texas.

It is important to understand that this is not one isolated incident. All over the country Walmart makes money by blatantly stealing time and money from its employees.

Check out some of the previous posts we've done about the issue.

It is truly sad that the men and women who work for the world’s larges retail store, must fight so hard just to be paid for doing their jobs.