Wal-Mart accused of shortening lunch breaks for its employees

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Attorneys representing about 116,000 former and current Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employees in California told a jury Monday that the world's largest retailer systematically and illegally denied workers lunch breaks.

The suit in Alameda County Superior Court is among about 40 cases nationwide alleging workplace violations against Wal-Mart, and the first to go to trial. Wal-Mart, which earned $10 billion last year, settled a lawsuit in Colorado for $50 million that contains similar allegations to California's class action. The company also is accused of paying men more than women in a federal lawsuit pending in San Francisco federal court.

The workers in the class-action suit are owed more than $66 million plus interest, attorney Fred Furth told the 12 jurors and four alternates.

Millions of dollars also are sought to punish the company for the alleged wrongdoing.

The case concerns a 2001 state law, in which employees who work at least six hours must have a 30-minute, unpaid lunch break. If they do not get that, the law requires they are paid for an additional hour of pay.

Several attorneys representing out-of-state Wal-Mart workers in class action lawsuits were in the gallery. Karin Kramer, an attorney suing Wal-Mart on behalf of 50,000 Washington state company workers, said suing Wal-Mart is a gargantuan task.

"They can afford and do fight you on every single issue," she said.

Shares of Wal-Mart rose 14 cents to close at $44.01 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.