Wal-Mart Foe Welcomes $62.3 Million Judgment Against “Sleazy Retailer” (10/3/07)

One of New York’s leading critics of Wal-Mart is welcoming today’s ruling by a Philadelphia judge ordering the giant retailer to pay $62.3 million in damages to workers who charged the company was illegally withholding their pay.

“Wal-Mart is beneath contempt, but it isn’t above the law,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

Appelbaum, one of the principal opponents of Wal-Mart’s attempts to expand into New York City, said he hopes the court ruling will be a “wake up call for the investment community.”

“Wall Street investors ought to consider today’s court ruling and other litigation against Wal-Mart and ask themselves whether they want to gamble their dollars on this sleazy retailer,” Appelbaum said. The union president pointed out that Wal-Mart settled one Colorado suit for $50 million and that the company is currently appealing a California court’s $172 million verdict.

“Today’s ruling is another reminder how Wal-Mart became the poster child for corporate irresponsibility,” Appelbaum said, adding “Wal-Mart can run, but it can’t hide.”