Three weeks ago, 150,000 California female Walmart employees were no doubt disappointed when a judge rejected their attempt to file a class action discrimination lawsuit regarding alleged wage issues. The women claim that their male counterparts are promoted faster, and paid more than women employed by the retail giant.

In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a similar lawsuit filed in 2001; this lawsuit sought to represent 1.6 million female employees of Walmart across the nation. That lawsuit was rejected due to the fact the Supreme Court found no “convincing” proof that Walmart discriminates against females company-wide.

Following this setback, smaller class action lawsuits were filed by some of the women, alleging discrimination took place in various Walmart “regions” in different states. On Friday August 2, Charles Breyer, US District Judge, ruled that the attorneys representing the women failed to support anecdotal and statistical evidence of bias against female employees. He also found that the lawsuit, which was scaled down to include only California female employees, was still too wide-ranging and disparate to be qualified as a class action suit.

Breyer wrote in his ruling that “Though the plaintiffs insist that they have presented an entirely different case from the one the Supreme Court rejected, it is essentially a scaled-down version of the same case with new labels on old arguments.”

In Los Angeles and throughout California, the successful filing of a class action lawsuit can be extremely damaging to a company’s brand and reputation. Large companies, due to the sheer number of employees it takes to successfully operate the business, are particularly at risk in these types of situations.

While this is definitely a victory for Walmart, we’ll have to wait and see how the company fares should female employees decide to file individual lawsuits. As Los Angeles business tort lawyers, Spotora & Associates provides exceptional legal guidance and support, working with clients to achieve the desired outcome.