Wal-Mart V. Dukes

Wal-Mart v. Dukes is a United States Supreme Court case. The case is an appeal from the Ninth Circuit's decision in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in which that court, eventually by a narrow 6-5 decision, affirmed the district court's decision to certify a class action lawsuit in which the plaintiff class includes 1.6 million women who currently work or have worked for Wal-Mart stores, including lead plaintiff Betty Dukes. Dukes, a current Wal-Mart employee, and others have alleged gender discrimination in pay and promotion policies and practices in Wal-Mart stores.

The Court agreed to hear argument on whether a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, Rule 23(b)(2) that provides for class-actions where the defendant's actions make injunctive relief appropriate can also be used to file a class-action that demands monetary damages. The Court also asked the parties to argue whether the class meets the traditional requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the class should not be certified in its current form, although they disagreed 5-4 on the reason and on allowing it to continue in a different form.