The HR Daily Advisor® announced today that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted human resources expert Stephen Bruce, PHR in the July 11th article, “A Supreme Court ruling could make lawyers reluctant to take on women’s workplace lawsuits.” Bruce is editor of the HR Daily Advisor, and has recently been named one of HR Examiner’s Top 25 Digital Influencers for 2011.
The Post-Gazettte article discussed the June 20th U.S. Supreme Court ruling that blocked female employees of Wal-Mart Corp from continuing a massive class action discrimination lawsuit that would have affected more than a million women. Writer Joyce Gannon discussed the questions this raised for both employees and employers. While the case might be viewed as a victory for employers, Bruce offered a warning:
“It doesn’t mean discrimination isn’t illegal anymore. [It] doesn’t mean there can’t be a class action suit. It means the rules are fairly strict about how you form a class. But it would be unfortunate if [employers] thought, ‘We don’t have to be careful anymore.’ That’s a pretty dangerous attitude to take.”
He also urged employers to establish a strong, well-publicized anti-discrimination policy, and to train managers and supervisors to enforce it.
The complete Post-Gazette article can be viewed here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11192/1159115-499-0.stm.
Further discussion on the Wal-Mart Supreme Court ruling can be viewed on the HR Daily Advisor website here: http://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/archive/2011/06/20/HR_Policies_Procedures_WalMart_Decision_Supreme_Court.aspx.
Congrats, Steve!