Retail giant Wal-Mart was dealt a mighty blow when a Pennsylvania court fined the company $78.47 million on Oct. 12.

The corporation was found guilty of forcing employees to work “off the clock” during rest breaks, meal breaks and after hours. After the guilty plea, Judge Mark Bernstein ordered Wal-Mart to pay its current and former Pennsylvania employees approximately $2.5 million in “off-the-clock” back-pay and $76 million for lost breaks from March 1998 to May 2006.

Former Wal-Mart employees Michelle Braun and Delores Hummel brought the case to the state, claiming that Wal-Mart had violated Pennsylvania labor laws by denying meal breaks to workers.

Hummel said that it “took a lot of courage” to stand up to a corporate juggernaut like Wal-Mart. She had worked for the retailer for 10 years before leaving in 2002. 

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Mike Donovan, called the verdict a “home run.”

“The message of today’s verdict to large retailers is that they can’t say one thing to their employees and do another,” he said.

Wal-Mart attorney Neal Manne predicted that the company will appeal.

This verdict follows a 2001 California judgement against Wal-Mart in which the retailer was ordered to pay more than $172 million to approximately 116,000 current and former employees-again for denying its workers meal breaks

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