A federal judge in California recently held that workers suing Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and one of its warehouse operators, can go forward with their case to trial on the question of whether Walmart and the warehouse operator are liable as “joint employers” for alleged violations of hundreds of Southern California warehouse workers’ rights.
In making her determination to allow the workers to sue Walmart, the judge focused on the “economic realities” of the workplace and evidence showing that Walmart and its subcontractor, Schneider Logistics Trans-Loading and Distribution, controlled the terms and conditions of work performed by warehouse workers-who were officially employed by labor service subcontractors as, what is increasingly referred to as, “permatemps.”