June 20, 2011, 09:30:00AM. By Gordon Gibb

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Washington, DC: Plaintiffs seeking compensation from Wal-Mart for alleged sex discrimination in hiring and promotion will have to wage their battles individually, after the US Supreme Court ruled this morning that a class-action lawsuit against the giant retailer can't go ahead.

In the Supreme Court's view, the proposed class would prove too unwieldy and diverse with as many as 1.6 million class participants—all current or former Wal-Mart employees—seeking a portion of billions of dollars in damages.

Individual lawsuits would result in smaller settlements overall, according to a bulletin this morning in The New York Times.

The decision could be considered a win for Wal-Mart, which would have likely faced larger compensation payouts with a class action v. lawsuits pursued by individual plaintiffs.

The Supreme Court ruling reversed a previous decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The ruling was unanimous.

READ ABOUT WAL-MART CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS  or  MORE WAL-MART CLASS ACTION LEGAL NEWS ARTICLES

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