I am convinced the lawyers interviewed for this piece are employer-side lawyers. In fact,

"It is a real blockbuster," said Georgene Vairo, a professor at Los Angeles' Loyola Law School. "Think about the attorneys' fees in a case where you have a class as huge as you have here."

Plaintiffs' lawyers are often looking for profitable new areas of litigation. And if the Wal-Mart case moves forward, Vairo said, attorneys are bound to be searching for other big companies that may be vulnerable to discrimination suits "and see what they can make of it."

In the past, many attorneys have been reluctant to try to bring massive class-action cases for fear that the courts would deem them unwieldy.

Now, "it's not going to be unthinkable anymore," said Lynn Bersh, an employer lawyer at Reed Smith Crosby Heafy in San Francisco. "The path has been laid."

The reason I think so is, these are really stupid things for the claimant's side to say on record.

Wal-Mart Lawsuit Could Pave Way for Other Massive Job-Bias Claims
More class actions against big firms may have their day in court. But obstacles abound.
By Lisa Girion
Times Staff Writer

June 26, 2004

Numbers talk. For lawyers and employers, 1.5 million shouts.

That's how many current and former employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. could be swept into a gender discrimination lawsuit that was transformed by a federal judge into a nationwide class action this week.

If U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Jenkins' decision withstands Wal-Mart's promised appeal, the giant retailer will be facing the nation's largest workplace discrimination suit — and the possibility of a settlement or jury award running into the billions of dollars.

The prospect of such a huge liability — or big pay day — is reverberating through the ranks of employers, employees and lawyers on both sides of the bar.

…The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, alleges that the world's largest company pays female employees less than men for the same jobs, passes them over for promotions and retaliates against those who complain.

A study of Wal-Mart payroll data by the plaintiffs last year showed that women earned an average of 5% less than male counterparts with inferior education, experience and performance reviews.