Judge: Sex-bias suit citing Wal-mart is iffy

A federal judge in San Francisco said Friday at a court hearing that he’s “seriously concerned” that a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. alleging sex discrimination can’t proceed because of a precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court in a broader case.

The discrimination suit was brought by 45,000 female employees in California.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said lawyers for the women haven’t shown enough evidence to allow the group, or class-action, complaint filed in October to proceed. The judge said he’ll review the matter and issue a ruling later.

A group of more than 1 million women across the U.S. were barred from proceeding with their discrimination claims in a single lawsuit when the Supreme Court ruled last June that the plaintiffs failed to prove the Bentonville-based retailer had a nationwide policy that led to sex discrimination.

Lawyers for the women filed new lawsuits, narrowing plaintiff groups to workers in California and Texas, after the Supreme Court threw out the lawsuit involving the nationwide group.

The California case is Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 01- cv-02252, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). The Supreme Court case is Wal-Mart v. Dukes, 10-00277, U.S. Supreme Court (Washington).