as You Work
Legal Issues in the Workplace
Former Wal-Mart employee Jacqueline Cote filed a class action lawsuit against the retailer for wrongly denying health insurance benefits to her female spouse. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Boston. Cote is seeking a court ruling that Walmart violated Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, in addition to other laws, and damages for herself and her wife as well as any other Wal-Mart employees who were not offered health insurance for their same-sex spouses. Wal-Mart Changed its policy in January, 2014, and now offers benefits to same-sex couples, but by then Cote and her wife Dee Smithson had incurred at least $150,000 in medical costs.