Wal-Mart Bias Case: Underpaid Workers Mean Low, Low Prices

Wal-Mart will face a lawsuit claiming pay discrimination against more than a million female US employees after a court approved the action.

A federal appeals court upheld a 2004 ruling giving the lawsuit class action status, sanctioning claims from up to 1.5 million current and former staff.

Should it lose the case, the world's largest retailer could have to pay damages worth billions of dollars.

Wal-Mart has said it did not have a policy discriminating against women.

The world's largest retailer said it would appeal against the verdict.

'Evidence'

The original lawsuit was filed in 2001 by six women who either worked for Wal-Mart or had done so in the past.

A lawyer representing the women said they had "been waiting years for this decision".

In a split two-to-one verdict, the San Francisco court ruled that the country's largest class action lawsuit against a private employer could proceed.