A federal court in Los Angeles has ruled that Walmart and one of its contractors must go to trial to determine whether they together violated workplace rights at three Inland Empire warehouses.
The case revolves around employees work at Schneider Logistics, which handles the loading and unloading of Walmart goods at three Mira Loma warehouses. Those workers accused both companies of violating their rights.
Guadalupe Palma, director of the Ontario-based labor advocacy group Warehouse Workers United, welcomed the ruling.
“I think, first of all, this is what we’ve been saying all along, that Walmart needs to take responsibility over the conditions in the warehouses,” said Palma. “The judges ruling definitely supports that Walmart has responsibility over the working conditions in this situation and Schneider has responsibility over the legal working conditions. Walmart can no longer hide behind its net of contractors, subcontractors, as its routinely done in their warehouses.”
There are about 85,000 warehouse workers in the Inland Empire, according to the advocacy group. In 2011, Walmart was issued citations for civil fines totaling more than $1 million for inadequate record-keeping by the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement.
Tuesday’s ruling marks the first time a court has ruled there has been enough evidence of Walmart’s “joint employer” status to overcome summary judgment or a motion to dismiss, which requires Walmart to defend itself at trial, according to attorneys for the workers.
“The workers’ day-to-day reality is vindicated by this ruling,” said Theresa Traber of Traber & Voorhees, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, through a statement. “They are subjected to the directions and pressures of Schneider managers as they enforce Walmart’s performance standards on a daily basis.”
Walmart and Schneider have disputed liability on grounds that they are not the employers of the warehouse workers, according to attorneys representing the workers. The companies argue the workers contracts with two temporary staffing agencies made those agencies responsible for the issues.
“It’s important to note, the judge has not ruled on the merits of the co-employment in this case,” said Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg. “Our position remains the same. We look forward to presenting our side of this case to the fact finders and continuing the process of legal proceedings.”
According to attorneys representing the workers, the court cited substantial evidence that Walmart and Schneider controlled the terms and conditions of the work performed by the workers, and the court noted Walmart owns or leases the warehouses and provided all of the equipment.
“The court got it exactly right,” said attorney Michael Rubin of Altshuler Berzon LLP, through a statement. “Walmart controls every detail of its warehouse workers’ jobs and strictly monitors compliance with all its procedures. The workers function as Walmart employees, and Walmart cannot avoid responsibility by pinning all blame on the underfunded subcontractors it uses to staff its warehouses.”
