11 women suing Walmart over discrimination

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A group of 11 female former Walmart employees in Florida are suing the company for alleged gender discrimination, court documents show.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale Thursday, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

The lawsuit alleges Walmart Stores Inc. pays women less than men for the same work and doesn't give women equal chance for promotion.

The women are seeking cash compensation and a court order telling Walmart to end its gender discrimination.

"Walmart has a conscious indifference to women employees, where it's part of their policies at the company to not treat female employees the same as male employees," said lawyer Ted Leopold, who is representing the 11 women.

The lawsuit is similar to suits filed against Walmart in California, Texas and Tennessee in the past year.

All four cases are local versions of a national class action suit struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer. The case was struck down not based on its merits, but because the class of female Walmart employees was too large and diverse.

The new case is a "recycling of the old case struck down by the Supreme Court," Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said.