Wal-Mart fined $172m in ‘lunch breaks’ row

WAL-MART, the US retail giant which, through its ownership of the Asda supermarket chain, could finally enter the Irish market next year, has been hit with a $172m (€145m) fine for mistreating employees in California.

The order was handed down by the Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland and related to Wal-Mart cheating employees out of lunch breaks. In all, the case concerned 116,000 staff.

According to Chris Lebsock, a lawyer representing the Wal-Mart employees: "The jury found there was malice, fraud and oppression in denying the lunch breaks."