Mass. Court Reinstates Lawsuit Against Wal-Mart

The state's highest court has reinstated a lawsuit against Wal-Mart filed by Massachusetts employees who claim the world's largest retailer pressured them to work off the clock and denied them rest and meal breaks.

The lawsuit was filed in 2001.

In 2006, a Superior Court judge decertified the case as a class-action lawsuit representing 67,000 Wal-Mart employees in Massachusetts and dismissed many of the claims against Wal-Mart. But the state Supreme Judicial Court overturned the judge's ruling and said the lawsuit can go forward as a class-action case.

The court found that the lower court judge was wrong to exclude the testimony of an expert statistician whose data backed up employee claims.

The claims in the lawsuit are similar to claims made by Wal-Mart employees in other lawsuits around the country.