Dukes v. Wal-Mart Oral Argument Today

The United States Supreme Court is due to hearing oral argument today in this super-sized class action. The analysis everyone is looking forward to is whether the class is simply too large to have a common nucleus of facts.

Can a class with "3,400 stores, 41 separate regions, 53 retail departments, 170 job classifications and 1 million workers" be maintained as a class?  The plaintiffs certainly hope so.

As the country's largest employer, Wal-Mart has a lot on the line, but there is so much at stake, this case is far from over.  If the class is allowed to continue, the legal bills Wal-Mart will rack up cannot compare to the potential damages they would face with a class so large. 

Visit scotusblog to keep with will all the developments.

Judge Upholds City-Imposed Salary Cuts (City of Visalia)

Judge Melinda Reed ruled Friday that the City of Visalia had no further obligation under the Meyers Milias Brown Act to hear proposals from the local police bargaining unit, even though the City has reserves of $34 million, $20 million of which the City claims is already earmarked.  The police argued unsuccessfully that reserves should be used to fill any budget shortfall instead of unilaterally imposing paycuts.

Unfortunately for the bargaining unit, Judge Reed did not see that the City had such an obligation under the MMBA.  It is clear that the City has no duty to come to an agreement with the police unit, or spent dollars the way the police unit demands; the MMBA only requires that the two sides come to the table and negotiate in good faith.

I have not seen the ruling, but presumably, the issue was brought on a writ of mandate by the police unit, appealing the Public Employee Relations Board decision that the City had not violated their duties under the MMBA.

Obviously this is good news for any city which has substantial reserves and is looking to balance their budget through payroll reductions.