Supreme Court of the United States
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes
June 20, 2011
Summary
The Court reversed the judgment below, holding that the class certification of approximately 1.5 million female Wal-Mart employees was inconsistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) because respondents failed to demonstrate commonality and that individualized backpay claims could not be certified under Rule 23(b)(2). Justice Ginsburg concurred in part and dissented in part, agreeing backpay claims should not be certified under (b)(2) but arguing the majority imported Rule 23(b)(3) predominance concerns into the Rule 23(a)(2) commonality inquiry.