The news at a glance

Wal-Mart: Sex-discrimination suit advances

A federal appeals court handed Wal-Mart a legal setback this week, ruling 6–5 that a million or more women could join in a class-action suit for sex discrimination, said Ann Zimmerman and Nathan Koppel in The Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco appeals court ruling means that the women can avoid the financial burden of suing the company individually, setting up one of the biggest employment discrimination cases in U.S. history. “The ruling increases the pressure on Wal-Mart to either settle claims of unfair pay brought by the women or risk going to trial.”

An unfavorable verdict could cost Wal-Mart billions of dollars, said Steven Greenhouse in The New York Times. The sex-discrimination suit, originally filed in 2001, alleges that Wal-Mart systematically paid female employees less than men, awarded them smaller raises, and offered them fewer promotion opportunities. Wal-Mart disputes the allegations, saying they don’t reflect the experience of most female employees. The ruling doesn’t judge the merits of the charges, but by raising the specter of a class-action trial, it does “strengthen the plaintiffs’ leverage in settlement negotiations.”

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Microsoft: Profits reflect economic rebound

Microsoft’s per-share earnings jumped 35 percent in its most recent quarter, providing “further evidence of a rebound in corporate spending,” said Jessica Mintz in the Associated Press. The software giant earned $4 billion, compared with $3 billion in the same quarter last year. The profit jump was driven by strong sales of the Windows 7 operating system to corporate customers. Microsoft’s results, coupled with “optimistic reports” from Intel and IBM, suggest that companies are ready to invest in new technology.

Rental cars: Hertz buys a smaller rival

Hertz, the world’s largest airport car-rental company, said this week that it would acquire smaller rival Dollar Thrifty for $1.27 billion in cash and stock, said Dawn Kawamoto in DailyFinance.com. The deal enables Hertz, which specializes in business rentals, “to punch the accelerator on its plans to expand its presence in the leisure rental market in Europe.” With Dollar Thrifty, Hertz will boast 9,800 rental locations on six continents, and can tailor offerings to the business, leisure, and budget-conscious segments of the market.

Social networks: Facebook stirs new privacy debate

Facebook’s ambitious new plan to expand its presence to other websites prompted a sharp warning about privacy from Sen. Charles Schumer, said Brennon Slattery in PCWorld.com. The New York Democrat focused on a feature designed to turn Web browsing into a social experience by embedding a “Like” button on nearly every Web page. When a Facebook user clicks on the button, a link to the page automatically appears on the user’s Facebook profile. Schumer complained that Facebook was limiting users’ ability to keep their Web browsing private.

Newspapers: The Journal vs. the Times

In a move reminiscent of the newspaper wars of yesteryear, The Wall Street Journal is challenging The New York Times in the Times’ own backyard, said Matthew Flamm in Crain’s New York Business. The Journal, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., this week launched a stand-alone section of local New York news, with the aim of taking advertisers and readers away from the Times. The Times is fighting back with more coverage of real estate and local private schools.