Supreme Court, Women | featured news

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has denied a request to block part of the federal health care law that requires employee health-care plans to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraception pills.

The Supreme Court on Monday blocked the massive sex-discrimination case female employees brought against Wal-Mart in a decision that might make it harder to bring future discrimination lawsuits against large corporations. The court agreed unanimously that the Wal-Mart suit could not go forward as a class action that could affect as many as 1.5 million female workers, past and present. The decision was a huge win for Wal-Mart, which could have faced billions of dollars in damages and back pay.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc will urge the Supreme Court next week to reject the largest class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit in history, brought by female employees who seek billions of dollars.

Elena Kagan, the 112th person and the fourth woman to serve on the Supreme Court, continues a generational and demographic transformation of the court.

Her confirmation assured, Elena Kagan is on the brink of becoming the fourth woman ever to serve as a Supreme Court justice.