On this day 10 years ago, lawyers Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. and Joseph M. Sellers each stood behind the lectern to argue the case Wal-Mart v. Dukes before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Betty Dukes brought a class action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging that Wal-Mart had given its local managers excessive discretion over pay and promotions, which had been exercised disproportionately in favor of men. A federal district court certified Dukes’s class, which included approximately 1.5 million women, including all those who presently worked or had previously worked at a Wal-Mart store since 1998. Read more