The Supreme Court has ruled in what could have been the largest employment discrimination case in world history.

The Ruling

Moments ago, the Court unanimously ruled that a gender-discrimination suit against Wal-Mart cannot proceed as one massive class action. In short, The court ruled that the plaintiffs did not have enough in common to join all of their claims into a single case.

The opinion was authored by Justice Scalia. The court’s four other conservative justices joined the opinion in its entirety. The court’s four not-all-that-conservative members joined parts of the opinion but dissented from others.

The Facts

The case started in 2001 when a greeter named Betty Dukes and a handful of other female employees complained that they were paid and promoted less than males. Among other things, they contended that women make up more than 70% of Wal-Mart’s hourly workforce but less than a third of store management and that the company’s “strong, centralized structure fosters or facilitates gender stereotyping and discrimination.”

Many of the facts have been hotly disputed. For example, Wal-Mart claimed that a company-sponsored study showed that there is no statistically significant pay disparity between women and men in 90% of its stores. On the other hand, the plaintiffs’ experts alleged they found evidence of gender discrimination in every single Wal-Mart region.

Previous Court Rulings

In 2004, a federal district court judge sided with the plaintiffs. Wal-Mart appealed. In 2010, a federal court in San Francisco officially certified the case as a class-action, making it potentially the largest employment discrimination lawsuit ever. The case could have included as many as a million plaintiffs seeking more than a billion dollars in back pay and punitive damages.

In addition to disputing the facts, Wal-Mart assailed the size and scope of the suit, calling it “historic” and arguing that it would be virtually impossible to litigate in a one-size fits all manner. One spokesperson said: “We do not believe the claims alleged by the six individuals who brought this suit are representative of the experiences of our female associates.”

What This Means for Employers

Employers all over the nation just breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The decision is a key victory for Wal-Mart and others in the business community who contended that a ruling in the opposite direction would have resulted in unprecedented waves of class actions that could cripple the economy. While the “Class Action Crescendo” previously described here on the Blawg will probably continue, it won’t reach quite the cacophony it could have had the Supremes ruled differently.

Want More?

To read the entire decision, click here. Click here for The Wall Street Journal’s take.