Wal-Mart to face class-action suit

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. must face a class action by South Carolina employees claiming that the company forced them to work through breaks and off the clock, a judge ruled.

Current and former hourly workers from July 31, 1999, forward can sue in a single case, Judge Perry M. Buckner III in Walterboro, S.C., said. The group of about 100,000 workers is large enough and their claims similar enough to allow a class action, Buckner said in an Aug. 1 ruling.

Wal-Mart faces more than 70 U.S. wage-and-hour suits by employees claiming it failed to pay for all hours worked.