Wal-Mart Agrees to Pay $54 Million to Settle Lawsuit

The settlement in this case is a result of a July ruling from a Minnesota judge stating that Wal-Mart committed over 2 million violations of state labor laws, most involving cutting break times of workers and allowing workers to work off the clock. The court was originally set to determine the amount of damages Wal-Mart would pay next month, but the aforementioned settlement was reached between the parties and announced today.

These types of lawsuits are not new to Wal-Mart. According to SEC filings, Wal-Mart is currently in the midst of at least 76 similar lawsuits around the country. Workers in Pennsylvania, in a similar class-action suit, won a verdict of $78.5 Million against the Bentonville, AR-based giant in 2006. And another suit in California was won by the plaintiffs for $172 Million. In both instances, Wal-Mart has appealed the verdicts.

At first glance, one might want to jump to the conclusion that Wal-Mart is consistently abusing its power as an employer and forcing low-wage workers to suffer for the greater good of the bottom line. And there is certainly some of that going on in this instance. But what is more at issue here is individual states and their legal minions deciding that they need to get a larger piece of Wal-Mart's profits. Taxes and other business-related expenses simply are not enough - not when Wal-Mart is consistently one of the most profitable companies in the world.

So, Wal-Mart becomes a target of state governments and the legal system - and who is going to decide a lawsuit in favor of the ultimate corporate Goliath? There can be no justice in such a decision. Instead, hit the company with a barrage of sentimentally-biased lawsuits and wait for the money to roll in from the judgments and the settlements. These suits aren't going to do any real damage to Wal-Mart, and the fact that they get so little press is an indication that no one is really trying to hurt the company. Instead, they just want a larger piece of the pie. Where's the crime in that?