Walmart Blocked From Adding New Defense in Final-Wage Dispute

Walmart lost its bid to add an affirmative defense in an amended answer to a class case alleging it failed to timely pay workers’ final wages once they moved on, a federal judge in California said.

Wal-Mart Associates Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sought to add a defense based on recent settlements in other cases involving California’s Private Attorneys General Act. But allowing the “self-proclaimed largest retailer in the world” to amend its answer “would prejudice Plaintiff due to undue delay and the need for additional discovery,” the US District Court for the Southern District of California said.

Named ...