lune 16, 2010
Æl!l> JJnrt lattò (D hseruer
Page 15
New Prices
Effective
May 1,2010
Paying Women Less for Work
Wal-Mart has
chance to make
things right
by
J udge G reg M athis
The fed eral ap p eals
court, in a split decision
last month, ruled 6-5 that a
sexual discrimination case
against W al-Mart can move for­
ward as a class action suit.
The case began in 2001 when
six women claimed Wal-Mart
paid w om en less than m en,
a w a rd e d s m a lle r ra ise s to
women and provided fewer op­
portunities for promotions for
women. Later, more than one
million women signed on to be-
come claimants in the case which
is the largest employment dis­
crimination case in this nation’s
history.
The plaintiffs point
out that, although 65
percent o f Wal-Mart
h o u rly em p lo y ees
are women, only 33-
percent o f its man­
agers are w om en.
Obviously, W al-M art does not
want the case to proceed and
has announced it will appeal to
the Supreme Court. Addition­
ally, Wal-Mart maintains that the
discrimination claims are based
on individual decision making,
not corporate.
This isn’t the first time Wal-
Mart has faced accusations o f
discrimination.
In 2009, Wal-Mart settled a
Cass action suit on that saw
them accused o f discriminating
against African-Americans em­
ployed in Wal-Mart's trucking
fleet. When the suit was filed,
only 2 to 3-percent o f Wal-Mart's
highw ay drivers were black;
about 15-percent o f highway
truck drivers across the nation,
regardless o f em ployer, are
black. The settlement called for
Wal-Mart to pay over $17 mil­
lion to in damages and improve
hiring practices.
Wal-Mart is the nation’s larg­
est private sector employer in
the country; over 1 million em ­
ployees work for the big box
retailer. If found liable o f sexual
discrimination, Wal-Mart will
suffer a blow to both its reputa­
tion and its bottom line.
But, the company will also
have a chance to make things
right. After it settled its racial
discrimination case, Wal-Mart
instituted a diversity hiring and
training program. Similar initia­
tives coult^possibly come o f this
suit.
While the full truth about the
discrimination claims have yet to
be brought to light, it is a good
thing this case will be heard in
court. These women, like all
Americans, deserve the oppor­
tunity to seek justice.
Greg Mathis is a retired
Michigan District Court Judge
and syn d ica ted television
judge.
More Guns and More Violence
Restrictions are
melting away
by
W illiams A. C ollins
E verybody's doing it.
Buying a gun. Ever since
the Suprem e C ourt said
anyone can own one, ner­
vous citizens have been gob­
bling them up. Unconcealed
weapons are even showing up in
bars and supermarkets.
It used to be that folks craved
h eat to p ro te c t th e m selv es
from the odd, headline-grab­
bing hom e invasion. E xperi­
ence show s, though, that such
h o m e o w n e r w e a p o n ry h as
proved m uch m ore useful in
shooting w ives, husbands, and
estranged sw eethearts than in
defending one's castle. Guns
are also enorm ously convenient
for com m itting suicide.
Kids adore them too, espe­
c ia lly little k id s. M ore
preschoolers die from bullets
than do police officers. But kids
don't co m plain m uch about
guns...they think they're cool.
The real grumps are New York­
ers. That city has passed harsh
weapons laws but is
loaded with them
anyway. That's be­
cause guns are a big
b u sin e ss
dow n
- South, and states
Lx----- J i¡ke V irginia and
Americans in general aren't that
thrilled about guns. But Am eri­
cans in general aren't that thrilled
about voting either. Gun owners,
on the other hand, are. There­
fore politicians tend not to thwart
the NRA because the anti-gun
folks also aren't nearly as gener­
ous at campaign time.
But in many places there re­
mains a good majority o f folks
favoring firearm s restriction,
which is why the gunmen still
need to persuade the Supreme
Court to outlaw state controls,
just as it has lately outlawed
federal controls. With this court,
that shouldn't take long.
It's true that the U.S. Senate
did recently reject a measure
that would have allowed con­
cealed weapons to be legal in
every state, but don't get your
hopes up. That only came about
because the amendment needed
60 votes. It got 58. Just give it
time.
Georgia market them like candy.
OtherWords columnist Wil­
Citizens o f the Northeast are not
liam A. Collins is a form er
amused. Neither are Mexicans.
state representative and a
Just as the U.S. provides an
fo rm e r m ayor o f Norwalk,
insatiable market for the M exi­
Conn.
can drug pipeline, Mexican drug
lords provide an insatiable mar­
11 h Q P r i h P 503-288-0033
ket for the U.S. weapons pipe­ ■
1 • U
L 1 1 U C
Attn-. Subscriptions, The
line. No, it's not barter --we buy
a lot more than they do—but the \J U S t $O U p e r y e a r Portland Observer, PO Box
two m arkets are quite inter­ |
(please include check)
3137, Portland OR 97208.
twined. If we didn't have suffi­ I N ame : ____ _______
cient guns to supply them, the
T elephone :
drug cartels would have to go
after each other with machetes, I A ddress :
a great boon to innocent by­ I ________
standers.
I or em ail subscriptions@ portlandobserver.com
Actually, polling shows that
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