June 30, 2004 9:31 AM

Social Issues tug Wal-Mart in different directions
Posted by Jason Butlerat 9:31 AM

Today's New York Times reports on Wal-Mart's new directions, brought on in part by the recent class-action certification of the discrimination case.

Lately, it's been hard to tell what kind of company Wal-Mart plans to become. On one hand, it bans certain magazines from its stores, vigorously fights matters ranging from shareholder proposals to federal lawsuits, and justifies strategies by quoting its long-dead founder in the obsolete manner of Chinese quoting Chairman Mao.

On the other hand, in the last year, Wal-Mart created an office of diversity, announced that it would protect gay workers from workplace discrimination, and pledged to promote women in the same proportion that they apply for management jobs, promising to penalize senior executives if that does not come to pass.