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New
lawsuits hit Wal-Mart this week: Two new lawsuits against Wal-Mart were announced this week. Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, a law firm specialising in class action suits, will charge Wal-Mart for unfair labour practices. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing the retailer for discrimination. The latest lawsuit concerning unfair labour practices has been filed in New York. Similar processes are pending in other states, according to the law firm. Workers have been forced to work 'off the clock', that is not having been paid for all the hours worked. This can have included attending meetings before working time starts to be counted or even being 'locked in' to the store and asked to continue working even after they have clocked out. According to the suits, workers have also been told to work through lunch breaks. "Additionally, it has been alleged that Wal-Mart regularly issues work assignments that are impossible to complete in the time allotted, forcing many employees to begin work early or leave work late, and the employees are not compensated for these extra hours", the law firm says on its website. Another lawsuit filed yesterday in Kansas City Federal Court says that Wal-Mart has discriminated against a job applicant, who uses a wheelchair. Since 1994, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has already filed 17 lawsuits against Wal-Mart for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Uni Commerce affiliate UFCW is engaged in a difficult struggle to ensure that Wal-Mart workers can join a trade union and defend their rights. The company, which pays wages which are below collective agreement levels, goes to great lengths to stop this.
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