Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

New York -- Three female employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in South Florida claiming the company discriminates against women in areas such as wages and promotion opportunities, the Associated Press reported.

The potential class-action lawsuit follows similar lawsuits recently filed in Tennessee, Texas and California. It also follows a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision that tossed out a national gender bias lawsuit seeking to represent some 1.6 million female Wal-Mart workers.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended Aug. 25 inched up to $80.9 million, from $79.8 million in the same period last year. Results were impacted by an $11.5 million litigation charge stemming from the preliminary settlement of a lawsuit in New York.

Sales for the quarter rose 10.8% to $2.36 billion, a record for the company, and same-store sales increased 5.4%.

Nashville, Tenn. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is facing its third regional gender bias lawsuit since the Supreme Court rejected a nationwide class action filed by female workers in California and Texas.

Three female employees sued Wal-Mart in federal court in Tennessee on Tuesday, claiming discrimination against female workers in the company’s Region 43 which consists of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi.

LG Electronics and Whirlpool Corp. have agreed to settle their respective patent infringement disputes related to refrigerators, ending years of litigation between the two companies. Three pending lawsuits will be dismissed in the U.S. District Courts in Delaware and New Jersey, according to the announcement. All other terms of the settlement are confidential.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Kodak is hoping to extend its exclusive right to file a plan of reorganization.

New York -- A U.S. judge in San Francisco has certified a class-action lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. that involved allegations of gender discrimination in the store's promotion practices.

“Costco offers numerous competing explanations for the observed gender disparity in promotions,” U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said in the ruling, Bloomberg reported. “None of these explanations undermine the companywide nature of the challenged policies and their disparate effects.”

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation estimates that U.S. retailers and their customers are benefiting from savings of up to $18 million every day since the implementation of the debit card swipe fee reform.

By Sandra Gold Slon