It actually blows over and over in an endless cycle of corporate greed and ethics-free operation. The behemoth has lost yet another lawsuit, this time over denying meal breaks to employees. This is wage and hour law 101, folks. For Wal-mart, it’s easier to skate the law and pay up every once in a while when someone has the cojones to take it on. For this particular violation, the retailer is also being sued in 30 other states. This ruling applies to a California case. (Reuters):

Concluding a class-action court challenge against the world’s biggest retailer, the Alameda County, California jury held that Wal-Mart had broken a state law on breaks for meals.

…The four plaintiffs who launched the lawsuit in 2001 had claimed Wal-Mart had failed to pay hourly employees for missed or interrupted meal breaks. The jury ruled Wal-Mart must pay $57.2 million in compensation and $115 million in punitive damages, said Jessica Grant, another lawyer for the plaintiffs.

“What was compelling for the jury was that we put a lot of evidence before them of memos by Wal-Mart from seven years ago that concluded they had been breaking the law,” said Grant. “Instead of taking steps to solve the problem, Wal-Mart concealed it.”