Good Morning! Today is the first day of summer, and judging from the weather we’ve had recently, it’s going to be a hot one. Today, the weatherman is calling for sunshine and a possible stray thunderstorm this afternoon with a high of 98°.

Here’s what’s brewing in the news:

Wal-Mart class action suit blocked

The Supreme Court blocked as many as 1.5 million current and former female employees of Wal-Mart from pursuing the nation’s largest-ever sex discrimination case against the company, reports the Washington Post.

In June 2001, a Wal-Mart cashier named Betty Dukes (pictured right) filed a lawsuit against the company claiming she was denied opportunities to advance despite good performance reviews. Her attorney, Brad Seligman, says there’s a company-wide pattern of sexual discrimination that reflects the corporate culture of Wal-Mart.

Over the past 10 years, more than 100 female employees of Wal-Mart have come forward saying they too have faced discrimination, harassment or a hostile work environment because of their sex and that company executives failed to fix the problems.

Wal-Mart managers have also testified that they visited strip clubs during company meetings and saw nothing wrong with going to Hooters for business gatherings.

Yesterday, in a 5-4 ruling, the court determined that the women named in the lawsuit have not proven they suffered from a common policy of discrimination.

The decision raises significant hurdles for other class-action suits brought against big corporations, many of which are facing similar lawsuits filed by female employees. More than 20 of the country’s largest companies filed a brief in the case in support of Wal-Mart.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said there was ample evidence that there were problems at Wal-Mart. When the suit was filed, women held 70 percent of the hourly jobs but made up only 33 percent of management positions.

Ginsburg believes the women should have been given the chance to prove their case. “The court, however, disqualifies the class at the starting gate,” she wrote in dissent. She was joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Question: Should the women have been allowed to have their official day in court? Is it ever ok to conduct corporate business meetings in a strip club?
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Final cigarette warning labels unveiled
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today unveiled the nine graphic health warnings required to appear on every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States and in every cigarette advertisement. The warnings represent the most significant changes to cigarette labels in more than 25 years and will affect everything from packaging to advertisements and are required to be placed on all cigarette packs, cartons and ads no later than September 2012. “President Obama is committed to protecting our nation’s children and the American people from the dangers of tobacco use. These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking and they will help,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “These labels will encourage smokers to quit, and prevent children from smoking. President Obama wants to make tobacco-related death and disease part of the nation’s past, and not our future.” Do you think it’s going to work? (View all nine images here)
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Study: Local employment to recover by 2014
The Charlotte region still faces a slow climb to recovery, but analysts say its return to pre-recession employment will peak by mid-2014, according to a study released Monday by the IHS Global Insight research firm reports the Charlotte Observer. The report was prepared for the U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual meeting, which was attended by Mayor Anthony Foxx. After joining President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a dozen mayors at the White House on Monday to discuss the economy, Foxx told the Charlotte Observer, "I would take the challenges we have in Charlotte over any city in the country." He said, "The combined willpower we have to surmount our obstacles really makes us special." (Read more here)

*** This is your chance to speak out. Please share your opinions about today’s headlines or whatever else may be brewing on your mind this morning in the comment section below.

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