Wal-Mart Makes the Case for Affirmative Action

In her occasional column for Dollars & Sense, Jeannette Wicks-Lim discusses the Supreme Court dismissal of the class-action lawsuit filed by more than 1.5 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees, which alleged that supervisors routinely discriminated against female workers by promoting and paying them less than their male counterparts. She explains how the Supreme Court decision exposes the limitations of the traditional, complaint-driven approach to enforcing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and why workers need affirmative action policies to eradicate discrimination.