Pennsylvania superior court ok's $187M verdict against Wal-Mart

By Correy Stephenson The Daily Record Newswire A trial court correctly certified a class of hourly Wal-Mart workers who were denied payment for contractual rest breaks, a Pennsylvania appellate court has ruled in affirming an award of $187 million against the retail company. A group of hourly employees at Pennsylvania Wal-Mart stores filed suit, alleging breach of contract and violation of the state's employment law because they were not paid for rest breaks. A jury awarded $75 million, but with attorney fees and interest the award totaled more than $187 million. Wal-Mart appealed, arguing that the class should not have been certified because it was improperly defined and lacked commonality. The class of approximately 187,000 plaintiffs should be required to show the company's liability to each class member, the company argued. But the court disagreed, affirming the verdict. "[A] careful review of the voluminous record reveals the common questions of law and fact are directly traceable to Wal-Mart's corporate policies and practices as well as Wal-Mart's witnesses' testimony regarding the proliferation and strict enforcement of those corporate policies. "The common questions of fact rely on common questions of law," the court said. Expert testimony established on a class-wide basis that records of employees swiping their time cards could adequately reflect missed breaks, the court said, and individual employees did not need to be questioned to determine whether Wal-Mart managers forced class members to work through or cut short their breaks. Pennsylvania Superior Court. Braun v. Wal-Mart, No. 2011 PA Super 121. June 10, 2011. Lawyers USA No. 993-3000. Published: Thu, Jun 23, 2011