Court Dismisses Wal-Mart Disability Case
Author: Copyright 2007 Associated PressDate: Jan 14, 2008
"The Huber case has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties," Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) spokeswoman Sharon Weber said.
Details of the settlement are confidential, she added.
At issue in the case was how far employers under the Americans with Disabilities Act must go to accommodate disabled employees.
Pam Huber, who still works at Wal-Mart, was injured in April 2001 while employed as an order filler in a Wal-Mart distribution center in Clarksville, Ark. She applied for a different position at equivalent pay, but didn't get the job.
Wal-Mart said in court papers that it hired a more qualified employee. Huber was later given a job at about half the hourly wage she earned as an order filler.
Huber sued in June 2004, arguing that under ADA rules, she only had to be qualified for the equivalent position, not the most qualified, and should have been reassigned to the job with equivalent pay.
A federal court in Arkansas sided with Huber, but the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis, reversed and ruled in favor of Wal-Mart.
The ADA "only requires Wal-Mart to allow Huber to compete for the job, but the statute does not require Wal-Mart to turn away a superior applicant," the appeals court said.
Wal-Mart shares fell 25 cents to $47.47 in afternoon trading Monday.
