NEWS OF THE DAY News 5. Wal-Mart Suit Reaches Class Action Status.

[NUKE209]

[NEW WORDS]

  ♧ class action : 집단 소송   - class action lawsuit

  ♧ turn a spotlight on A : A에 이목을 집중시키다

  ♧ discrimination : n. 차별  

  ♧ proceed : v. 속행하다, 진행하다

  ♧ settle : v. 해결하다, 청산하다, 결제하다

  ♧ undervalue : v. 과소평가하다, 가치를 감소시키다, 경시하다

  ♧ remedy : v. 치료하다, 고치다   -n. 치료, 치료요법

  ♧  entrench : v. 참호를 파다, 참호로 에워싸다

  ♧ stereotype : v. 정형/유형화하다, 판에 박다

  ♧ feminization : n. 여성화   - a. feminine ↔ masculine

  ♧ as things now stand : 현재의 상황을 봤을 때

  ♧ median : a. 중간의

  ♧ the Census Bureau : 통계청

  We're going to take a close look at the wage gap between men and women. A ruling yesterday turned a spotlight on this problem. A judge allowed a pay discrimination suit against Wal-Mart to proceed as a class-action, representing 1.6 million female employees. Texaco., Boeing, Publix, and Marriott have all settled claims that they paid women less than they paid men. In another case, Home Depot paid 104 million dollars to 25,000 women. For some types of female workers, the wage gap has been growing.

  More than 40 years after the country passed a law requiring equal pay for equal work, there is still a big gap between what men and women earn. Today, a woman makes 78.5 cents for every dollar earned by a man. And the gap widens with age. Women in their peak earning years, 45 to 54, earn just 73 percent of what men do.
  "There is a general undervaluing of women throughout our economy. And it is time that we begin to remedy that."

  That means finding a remedy for deeply entrenched attitudes about the roles of men and women, what the judge in the Wal-Mart case called 'gender stereotyping'.
  "I went to my district manager, and I said to him, you know, "Hey! Listen. I want a raise." And he said to me, "Well, this guy, he has a wife and two kids to support."
  But in nearly one in four American families today women are now the sole supporters. Another problem is what advocates for women call 'the feminization of certain occupations', such as cashiers. But pay discrimination occurs at all levels in all types of jobs, from dishwashing to surgery.

  Hydie Somner was one of 900 women stockbrokers who sued Merrill Lynch for discrimination. Eight years later, she won her case and 2.2 million dollars.
  "I was shocked by the treatment that I received. I have been in the workplace for a long time. I had my education."

  But neither education nor experience seems to protect women. As things now stand, the median pay for a woman manager, according to the Census Bureau, is about 35,000 dollars a year. The median pay for a male manager is 50,000 dollars.