Â鶹ŮÓÅ

A Wal-Mart Stores Inc employee sued the retailer on Tuesday, saying its prior policy of denying health insurance to the spouses of gay employees violated gender discrimination laws. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, seeks nationwide class-action status. Wal-Mart, the largest private U.S. employer, began offering health insurance benefits to same-sex spouses last year, after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to married gay couples. Even after that change, the lawsuit says, Wal-Mart workers still live with the uncertainty of losing spousal coverage. (Wiessner, 7/14)

Two civil rights groups are trying to build a class action against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. over the retailer’s former policy of denying health-insurance benefits to the same-sex spouses of gay employees. In January 2014 Wal-Mart started offering benefits to domestic partners of U.S. employees regardless of their sexual orientation. But a lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday says the company should be held liable for refusing to extend employee benefits to same-sex partners in the past. (Gershman, 7/14)