Are corporate giants too big to sue?

UNSETTLED BY COURT'S WAL-MART RULING

Are corporate giants too big to sue?

JUNE 27, 2011

RE "COURT blocks Wal-Mart lawsuit'' (Business, June 21): I was greatly disappointed to read about the Supreme Court's decision that dismissed a class-action suit against Wal-Mart filed on behalf of 1.5 million women employees alleging sex discrimination. It is unfortunate that the ruling was based not on the merits of whether Wal-Mart discriminated against the women, but on whether the plaintiffs could sue the company as a class.

As an international human rights organization, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee works in partnership with the Northwest Arkansas Workers' Justice Center in Springdale, Ark., in a region that is home to Wal-Mart, the world's largest employer, and Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat-processing company.

Both companies have been at the center of many lawsuits for worker abuses, including health and safety violations, discrimination, and nonpayment of wages. With last week's ruling, the Supreme Court has made it more difficult for American workers to join together to challenge the employment practices of corporate behemoths. Unfortunately, it seems that these companies are now too big to sue.

If nothing else, this case should underline for voters that the appointment and confirmation of members of the Supreme Court is one of the most important powers of our elected president and US senators.

Ariel Jacobson
Cambridge

The writer is a senior associate for economic justice with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.