Of course, even if Wal-Mart loses, $2 million is barely a blip on the radar for a company that took in more than $355 billion in revenues in its most recent fiscal year. Still, Haddad's victory comes at a difficult time for Wal-Mart, with the company struggling to defend its reputation on a number of fronts. Wal-Mart has come under fire for the wages and benefits that it provides workers and for its impact on small, local retailers. Investors have been unhappy with its stagnant stock (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/30/07, "Wal-Mart's Midlife Crisis"). And it's become a favorite target among the Democratic Presidential candidates, including Barack Obama and John Edwards (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/16/06, "Can Barack Wake Up Wal-Mart").
As we all know Wal-Mart is still currently involved in the largest gender discrimination suit in history, the company has always held male employees at a higher regard than females. Women employees who have been pregnant have been fired, and threatened by management. We expect more from the worlds largest employer. As Wal-Mart enters low-income areas and destroys all competition, stores close down and community members are forced to work at Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart knowingly takes advantage of all its employees whether it be pay, gender discrimination, hours, or simple mistreatment of workers, Wal-Mart takes every advantage they can to hold more power over its employees and the community it's in.
