Did Wal-Mart Wake Up? - The Arthur Page Society

management. 30 The lawsuit also claims that the average proportion of female managers in
the nation’s 20 largest retail stores is 20 percent higher than at Wal-Mart. 31
Women are also being compensated unfairly as opposed to their male
counterparts. According to Drogin, women earned about $5,200 less than men overall in
2001 at Wal-Mart. Contrasting hourly vs. salary employees, women working hourly
earned about $1,100 less than men. Women in management earned a salary of $14,500
less than men. 32 Women also asserted that the 5 to 15 percent additional pay that men are
receiving has nothing to do with seniority or performance reviews, as many of these
women felt that men would get promoted before them because of gender alone. 33
If these women were to win the case, Wal-Mart would have to face very serious
repercussions that could ultimately affect its bottom line. Not only would the company
have to pay what could be up to $10 billion in damages, but there would also be an
increase in pay to about 60 percent of their current workforce, which in turn would boost
prices and reduce not only sales, but its share price as well. In July 2005, about a year
after the plantiffs were certified as a class, Wal-Mart’s shares fell 3.9 percent to $50.51. 34
3.3 Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
The documentary film directed by Robert Greenwald, Wal-Mart: the High Cost of
Low Price, was produced by Brave New Films, released in select theatres on November
5, 2005 and opened nationwide November 13, 2005 to thousands of free screenings.
According to the film’s Web site, the feature documentary’s premise is to uncover “a
retail giant’s assault on families and American values.” 35 Using a series of interviews to
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