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Wal-Mart (Law 788-01)

Syllabus

Fall 2006

Instructors:

Jon Bauer

jon.bauer@law.uconn.edu

(860) 570-5205

Kaaryn Gustafson

kaaryn.gustafson@law.uconn.edu

(860) 570-5322

Alexandra Lahav

alexandra.lahav@law.uconn.edu

(860) 570-5217

Course Description: 

Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer with a hand in nearly every aspect of our economic and legal systems. This course will examine issues raised by Wal-Mart's size, power and business model. The issues that we will consider bring numerous areas of law into play, including employment and labor law, social welfare legislation, class actions, antitrust, zoning, international labor and human rights regulation, and international trade. By exploring issues arising in different areas of the law through the activities of a single entity, the course will show how different areas of the law are integrated in practice.

Required Texts:

·         Charles Fishman, The Wal-Mart Effect (2006).

·         Bob Ortega, In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and Wal-Mart, the World's Most Powerful Retailer (2000).

·         Liza Featherstone, Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Wal-Mart (2004).

Course Requirements and Expectations:

·         Students are expected to attend classes and to be prepared to engage in discussion.

·         Students must register for the TWEN site.  Many of the readings for the course will be available through the TWEN website only and students are responsible for downloading and reading this material.  We will also be putting other useful resources and supplemental or recommended readings on TWEN.  Professors will use the TWEN email list to communicate with students and students are responsible for keeping their email accurate so that they receive these communications.  Please check the site periodically for changes and announcements regarding the course.

·         Please sit in your assigned seats so they we can keep track of names and note participation.

·         Students are encouraged to attend the Wal-Mart Symposium being hosted at UConn on October 20-21, 2006.

Grading:

·         Final grades will be based on a 24-hour take-home exam.  The exam will include three questions-each written and graded by one instructor.

·         Exemplary participation can bump up a grade that hovers near a higher grade.

·         Because this is a course with high enrollment, the B-median requirement applies to the grade distribution.

Other:

·         Like Sam Walton, we have an "Open Door" policy: feel free to drop by your instructors' offices-during office hours or whenever the doors are open-with questions, complaints, or suggestions.

Class Topics and Readings:

Class 1 (August 30th):  Introduction/Wal-Mart's Development and Business Model

READINGS:

Fishman, Chapters 1-2 (pp.1-49).

Ortega, pp. 16-78, 108-111, 128-133, 140-150, 221-222, 278-280, 361-367.

Anthony Bianco and Wendy Zellner, Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?, Business Week, October 6, 2003, available at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_40/b3852001_mz001.htm.

Steven Malanga, What Does the War on Wal-Mart Mean?, City Journal, Spring 2004, available at http://www.city-journal.org/printable.php?id=1333. 

Class 2 (September 6th):  Antitrust

READINGS:

Fishman, Chapters 3-4 (pp. 51-109). Optional reading:  Chapter 5 (pp. 111-136).

Ortega, pp. 266-283.

Richard C. Schragger, The Anti-Chain Store Movement, Localist Ideology, and the Remnants of the Progressive Constitution, 1920-1940, 90 Iowa L. Rev. 1011 (2005). 

Barry C. Lynn, Breaking the Chain: The Antitrust Case Against Wal-Mart, Harper's (July 31, 2006), available at http://www.harpers.org/BreakingTheChain.html. 

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., v. American Drugs, Inc., 891 S.W.2d 30 (Ark. 1995). 

Gowan Car Care Ctr. v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., 230 F.3d 1358 (Table), 2000 WL 1477789 (6th Cir.(Tenn.)), 2000-2 Trade Cases P 73,063 (unpublished). 

S. Robson (Rob) Walton, Wal-Mart, Supplier-Parties, and the Buyer Power Issue, 72 Antitrust L.J. 509 (2005). (read pp. 518-527). 

Class 3 (September 13th):  Evaluating Wal-Mart's Effects

READINGS:

Fishman, Chapter 6 (pp.137-166).

Lea A. Vandervelde, Wal-Mart as a Phenomenon in the Legal World: Matters of Scale, Scale Matters (U. Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 05-36, 2006), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=876985. 

Steven Greenhouse, Mixed Grade for Wal-Mart on Report Card, 11/5/05 New York Times C4 

Emek Basker, Selling a Cheaper Mousetrap: Wal-Mart's Effect on Retail Prices, 58 J. Urb. Econ. 203 (2005), working paper version available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=484903. 

Jerry Hausman & Ephraim Leibtag, Consumer Benefits form Increased Competition in Shopping Outlets: Measuring the Effects of Wal-Mart (Nat'l Bureau of Econ Research, Working Paper 11809, 2005), available at www.nber.org/papers/w11809. 

David Neumark, Junfu Zhang, & Stephen Ciccarella, The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets, (Nat'l Bureau of Econ Research,Working Paper 11782, 2005), available at www.nber.org/papers/w11782. 

Kenneth E. Stone, “Impact of the Wal-Mart Phenomenon on Rural Communities,” 1997 Increasing Understanding of Pub. Problems & Policies, available at  http://www.seta.iastate.edu/retail/publications/10_yr_study.pdf. 

Class 4 (September 20th):  Workplace Culture/Public Image/Influence 

READINGS:

Ortega, pp. 84-92, 188-218, 346-353, 359-361.

Featherstone, Chapter 7 (pp. 211-244).

Fishman, Chapter 8 (pp.197-218).

Katherine Reynolds Lewis, “Wal-Mart Makeover: Katrina Response Kicks Off Retail Giant's Drive to Mend a Tattered Image,” Newark Star-Ledger, Oct. 28, 2005, at 61, available at 10/28/05 STLGRN 61.

Featherstone, pp. 51-68.

Bruce Mohl, State Orders Wal-Mart to Sell Morning After Pill, Boston Globe, Feb. 15, 2006 at F1, available at 2/15/06 BOSTONG F1.

The law review excerpt and edited cases listed as "Class 4 – a Supplemental Readings" under "Course Materials" on the TWEN site.

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS:

·         Before class, choose two of the following words or phrases Wal-Mart commonly uses to describe itself and do a little web searching to find 1) information generated by Wal-Mart, and 2) information generated by critics of Wal-Mart:

o        All-American

o        Always Low Price, Always

o        Philanthropist

o        Promoter of Family Values

o        Pro-Diversity

o        Supporter of Military Families

o        Environmentally Friendly

o        Supporter of Organic Farming

·         Please roam http://walmart.freedom.com

o        Note: If you have time at some point during the semester, you might want to check out the Charlie Rose interview with the Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott.

Class 5 (September 27th): Employment Discrimination I

Readings:

Featherstone, Chapter 1 (pp. 13-50) and pp. 68-84

Statutory provisions on liability for discrimination under Title VII:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, sections 703(a), (k) & (m) and 704(a) [42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a), (k) & (m); 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a)].  (Read the version posted on TWEN, which is edited to include only the relevant subsections.)

Texas Dep't of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248 (1981). 

Read only Section II, pp. 252-56.

Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324 (1977).

Read pp. 328-331, 334 (starting with Section II)-343, 357-362.

Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust, 487 U.S. 977 (1988). (Read pp. 982-993, 999).

Statutory provisions on Title VII remedies:  

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, sections 706(g)(1), (g)(2)(B), & (k) [42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g)(1), (g)(2)(B) & (k)];  Civil Rights Act of 1991, section 102(a)(1), (b) & (c) [42 U.S.C. §1981a(a)(1), (b) & (c)].  (Read the version posted on TWEN, which is edited to include only the relevant subsections.)

EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 187 F.3d 1241 (10th Cir. 1999). (Read pp. 1243-1249).

Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 137 (N.D. Cal. 2004). (Read pp. 140-154).

Expert Report of William T. Bielby, Ph.D, in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., available at http://www.walmartclass.com/staticdata/reports/r3.html.  Read first two sections (Qualifications and Summary of Findings), and from text at fn. 22 to text at fn. 86.

Class 6 (October 4th): Employment Discrimination II

READINGS:

From Class 5 readings, review Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324 (1977). pp. 337-342, 361

Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 137 (N.D. Cal. 2004).

Read pp. 154-166.

Sears v. EEOC, 839 F.2d 302 (7th Cir. 1988).  Read the edited version posted on TWEN.

Local 28, Sheet Metal Workers’ International Ass’n v. EEOC, 478 U.S. 421 (1986). 

Read the edited version posted on TWEN.

Michael Selmi, The Price of Discrimination: The Nature of Class Action Employment Discrimination and Its Effects, 81 Tex. L. Rev. 1249 (2003).

Read pages 1249-52, 1268-97.

Expert Report of William T. Bielby, Ph.D, in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., available at http://www.walmartclass.com/staticdata/reports/r3.html.  Read from text at fn. 87 to end.

Excerpts from two articles about diversity initiatives undertaken by Wal-Mart, reprinted at end of discussion topics handout posted on TWEN.

Class 7 (October 11th):  Wal-Mart as Litigant

READINGS:

Fed. R. Civ. Pro., Rule 23

Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 137 (N.D. Cal. 2004).  Read pp. 166-186.

In re Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation, 280 F.3d 124 (2d Cir. 2001) .  Read effect of certification part (D), pp. 145-46 and dissent pp. 151-152. 

Thomas A. Hemphill, Rejuvenating Wal-Mart's Reputation (Business Horizons 2005), pp. 19-20 (in coursepack)

Marc Galanter, Planet of the APs: Reflections on the Scale of Law and Its Users, 53 Buffalo L. Rev. 1369 (2006).

Gillian K. Hadfield, Exploring Economic and Democratic Theories of Civil Litigation: Differences Between Individual and Organization Litigants in the Disposition of Federal Civil Cases, 57 Stan. L. Rev. 1275 (2005). Read pp. 1276-1281, 1285-1292, 1298-1305, 1310-1323.   

Class 8 (October 18th): Unions

READINGS:

Ortega, pp. 84-94, 100-01, 105-108, 229-236, 355-359.

National Labor Relations Act, sections 7, 8(a) and (c), 9(a), (b) [first sentence only] and (c)(1) [29 U.S.C. § 157, 29 U.S.C. § 158(a) and (c), 29 U.S.C. § 159(a), (b) [first sentence only] and (c)(1)].  (Read the version posted on TWEN, which is edited to include only the relevant subsections.)

NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co., 395 U.S. 575 (1969). 

Read pp. 579, 587-591, 610 (starting with section C)-620.

NLRB v. Exchange Parts Co., 375 U.S. 405 (1964) (Read entire case).

Cynthia L. Estlund, The Ossification of American Labor Law, 102 Colum. L. Rev. 1527 (2002).  Read pp. 1527-1544, 1551-1555, 1569-1572, 1603-1611.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and United Food and Commercial Workers, JD (SF) 19-03,

Kingman, Arizona (NLRB ALJ Feb. 28, 2003), available at http://www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_files/decisions/ALJ/JD(SF)-19-03.pdf.  Read pp. 1-8, 14 (starting at line 49)-16, 17 (starting at line 25)-19 (to line 11), 31 (starting at line 40)-32, 35 (starting at line 49)-36, 44 (starting at line 34)-49.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and United Food and Commercial Workers, JD-123-03, New Castle, Pennsylvania (NLRB ALJ Nov. 12, 2003), available at

http://www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_files/decisions/ALJ/JD-123-03.pdf.  Read entire case.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and United Food and Commercial Workers, Decision and Direction of Election, Case 27-RC-8356, Loveland, Colorado (NLRB Regional Director, Region 27, Jan. 28, 2005), available at http://www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_files/decisions/dde/2005/27-RC-8356(1-28-05).pdf.  Read pp. 1-3, 39-46.

Steven Greenhouse, At a Small Shop in Colorado, Wal-Mart Beats a Union Once More, 2/5/2005 New York Times A8.

Clifford Krauss, For Labor, A Wal-Mart Closing in Canada Is a Call to Arms, 3/10/2005 New York Times C5.

Stephen Franklin, Activists Pressure Wal-Mart: Sophisticated Campaign Takes Place of Traditional Union Organizing, Chi. Trib., Nov. 20, 2005, page C1.  

Class 9 (October 25th): Wage & Hour Law/ Immigration

READINGS:

Selected provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 202, § 203(d), (e)(1) & (g), § 206(a)(1), § 207(a)(1), § 213(a)(1), § 215(a)(2) & (3), § 216(a) & (b), § 218(a).  (Read the version posted on TWEN, which contains only the relevant subsections.)

1.         Minimum Wage/Living Wage:

Jon Gertner, What is a Living Wage?, 1/15/2006 New York Times 638.

Brennan Center for Justice, Fact Sheet: Chicago Retail Living Wage Law, available at http://www.brennancenter.org/downloads/chicagolivingwage_factsheet.pdf.

Editorial, The Red-Lining of Chicago, Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2006.  (Posted on TWEN; also available on Factiva database, which can be accessed through the library's research databases on the law school website; also available on Lexis).

Annette Bernhardt and Nik Theodor, Op-Ed, How Large Retailers Can Be Neighborly, Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2006, available at http://www.brennancenter.org/presscenter/oped_2006/oped_2006_0625.html; also available on Westlaw).

Meyer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, Memorandum: Legality of Living Wage Ordinance (legal opinion drafted for Illinois Retail Merchants Association).  Posted on TWEN; read first two paragraphs (on p. 1) and Sections II and III (on pp. 5-12).

Laurie Reynolds, Professor, University of Illinois College of Law, Memorandum: Chicago's Regulation of Living Wages for Large Retailers (legal opinion drafted for proponents of Chicago Living Wage Ordinance), available at http://www.brennancenter.org/programs/downloads/Legal%20Analyses%20of%20Chicago%20Living%20Wage%207-22-06.pdf.  Read only Section I (on pp. 1-2) and Sections III and IV (on pp. 7-13).

Monica Davey and Michael Barbaro, Minimum Wage Ordinance Fails Last Hurdle in Chicago, 9/14/06 NYT A18.

Steven Greenhouse and Michael Barbaro, Wal-Mart to Add Wage Caps and Part-Timers, 10/2/06 NYT A1.

2.         Unpaid Wages and Overtime:

Steven Greenhouse, Suits Say Wal-Mart Forces Workers to Toil Off the Clock, 6/25/2005 New York Times A5. 

Thiebes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 98-802-KI (D. Ore. Dec. 1, 1999), 1999 WL 1081357 (D. Or.).

Steven Greenhouse, U.S. Jury Cites Unpaid Work at Wal-Mart, 12/20/02 New York Times A26.

Thiebes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 98-802-KI (D. Ore. July 26, 2004), 2004 WL 1688544 (D. Or.).  Read pp. * 1 - * 6 (through end of Section I).

Brent Hunsberger, Getting $211,000 for 83 Workers Worth $2.6 Million, Lawyers Argue, The Oregonian, Dec. 8, 2004, page D01.

3.         Child Labor:

Steven Greenhouse, Labor Department is Rebuked Over Pact with Wal-Mart, 11/1/2005 New York Times A14. 

4.         Employment of Undocumented Aliens (and More on Unpaid Wages and Overtime): 

David Grunblatt and Leni Battaglia, Repercussions of the Wal-Mart Settlement:  An Employer's Responsibility for Undocumented Aliens Working for its Independent Contractors, 184 New Jersey Law Journal 109 (April 10, 2006), available at http://www.proskauer.com/news_publications/published_articles/ content/2006_04_10_b/_res/id=sa_File/Grunblatt_Bataglia_41006.pdf

Second Amended Complaint in Zavala v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2005 WL 3522044 (Nov. 21, 2005), also available (in easier-to-read format) at http://www.walmartjanitors.com/staticdata/Second_Amended_Complaint.pdf.  Read ¶¶ 1-10, ¶¶ 21-22, ¶¶ 29-69, and ¶¶ 118 through the end of the complaint. 

Zavala v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 393 F.Supp.2d 295 (D.N.J. 2005).  Read pp. 299-303, 316 (section 5 only), 320 (starting with section IV)-332.

Zavala v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 447 F.Supp.2d 379 (D.N.J. 2006).   Read pp. 381 and 385 (starting with section C) to end of case.

Class 10 (November 1st):  Health/Benefits/Social Welfare Programs

READINGS:

Ortega, pp. 348-353.

Arindrajit Dube & Ken Jacobs, Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs: Use of Safety Net Programs by Wal-Mart Workers in California (UC Berkeley Labor Center Briefing Paper Series, 2004), available at http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/retail/walmart.pdf

Michael J. Hicks, Does Wal-Mart Cause an Increase in Anti-Poverty Program Expenditures, available at http://www.globalinsight.com/publicDownload/genericContent/hicks-poverty.pdf.

Michael Barbaro, Wal-Mart to Expand Health Plan for Workers, N.Y. Times, Oct. 24, 2005, at C1.

Steven Greenhouse and Michael Barbara, Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut Employee Benefit Costs, N.Y. Times, Oct. 26, 2005, at C1.

Joshua Green, The New War Over Wal-Mart, Atlantic Monthly, June 2006, at 38.

Ritu Kalra, 'Fair Share' Health Care Bill Dies in Committee, Hartford Courant, Apr. 14, 2006, at A1. 

Retail Industry Leaders Ass'n v. Fielder, 435 F.Supp.2d 481, 2006 WL 2007654 (D.Md., Jul. 19, 2006)

Marguerite Casey Foundation, The Earned Income Tax Credit: Analysis and Proposals for Reform,  available at http://www.caseygrants.org/documents/reports/MCF%5FEITC%5Fpaper.pdf

Class 11 (November 8th):  Land Use/Environmental

READINGS:

Ortega, pp. 166-187, 284-317.

Managing Maryland's Growth: Models and Guidelines, "Big Box" Retail Development (2001).  Available on TWEN, read pp. 4-16.

Good Jobs First, Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance its Never-Ending Growth (May 2004).  Available at http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/pdf/wmtstudy.pdf. Read pp. 4-34.

In re Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 702 A.2d 397 (Vt. Sup. Ct. 1997).  

Dwight H. Merriam, Breaking Big Boxes: Learning from the Horse Whisperers, 6 Vt. J. Envtl. L. 7 (2005), available at http://www.vjel.org/articles/pdf/Merriam11FIN.pdf

Bakersfield Citizens for Local Control v. City of Bakersfield, 124 Cal. App. 4th 1184 (Cal. App. 2004) - read only Section III “Urban Decay.”

Optional:

Michael A. Schneider, Note and Comment: The Vermont Barrier: How Economic Protectionism Kept Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Out of St. Albans, Vermont, 20 Nova L. Rev. 919 (1996).  Read pp. 921-926.  

Elizabeth Courtney, Solving and Re-Solving the Big Box Dilemma in Vermont Communities, 6 Vt. J. Envtl. L. 98 (2005), available at  http://www.vjel.org/articles/pdf/Courtney11FIN.pdf

Class 12 (November 15th):  Globalization I

READINGS:

Fishman, Chapter 7 (pp. 167-195).

Ortega, pp. 353-354.

HBS Case Study, Wal-Mart, 2005 (in coursepack, read pp. 2-4).

Chris Tilly, Wal-Mart in Mexico: The Limits of Growth in Wal-Mart: the Face of Twenty-First Century Capitalism 189-212 (Nelson Lichtenstein, ed.2006) (in coursepack).

Ellen Israel Rosen, The Wal-Mart Effect: The World Trade Organization and the Race to the Bottom, 8 Chap. L. Rev. 261 (2005). Read pp. 264-269, 270-273.  

Ralph H. Folsom, et al., International Trade and Investment in a Nutshell (2000) pp. 96-107, 122-133 (in coursepack).

Class 13 (November 29th): Globalization II

READINGS:

Ortega, pp. 223-229, 236-259, 318-345.

Wal-Mart Report on Supplier Standards, available at http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=336.

Benedict Sheehy, Corporations and Social Costs: The Wal-Mart Case Study, 24 Journal of Law & Commerce 1 (2004).  

Ellen Israel Rosen, The Wal-Mart Effect: The World Trade Organization and the Race to the Bottom, 8 Chap. L. Rev. 261 (2005). Read pp. 273-282.

Class 14 (December 6th): Wal-Mart and Financial Services/Corporate Responsibility and Societal Responses 

READINGS:

Michael Barbaro, Bankers Oppose Wal-Mart as Rival, N.Y.Times, Oct. 15, 2005, at C1. 

Note: FDIC may issue an opinion on Wal-Mart's application before classes get underway.  You can track the application at http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/walmart/index.html.

Ortega, pp. 369-377.

Fishman, Chapter 9 (pp. 219-247).