Wal-Mart Convicted Of Wage Theft, Again

Here is another item that people might have missed over the Thanksgiving holiday and this time it is actually good news for a few hundred workers. A federal jury in California has ruled that Wal-Mart intentionally failed to pay around 800 truck drivers the minimum wage for inspecting and washing the vehicles. In addition, Wal-Mart did not pay the drivers for layovers, claiming they were not working during those hours. The jury awarded the drivers $54 million in damages, which also opens up Wal-Mart to additional penalties. Of course, Wal-Mart will appeal the ruling.

Wage theft, especially from unpaid overtime, costs workers in this country billions of dollars in earnings. That is why the ruling from the Texas judge striking down the Labor Department’s new rules on overtime is so devastating.  And this is yet another example of corporate criminal behavior which will largely go unpunished. I’m sure Wal-Mart just considers a fine like this the cost of doing business. It won’t stop until the thieving executives at these serial-offending companies spend a little time in a real jail.