Supreme Court bars mass sex bias case against Wal-Mart

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - Wal-Mart scored a big victory on Monday when the Supreme Court threw out the largest sex-discrimination case in U.S. history, but it has been forced to address the issues raised in the suit.

Since the sex-bias lawsuit was given class action status in 2004 on behalf of 1.6 million women, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has added more policies for advancing women in the workplace.

As a result, Wal-Mart says the percentage of entry and midlevel women managers has increased over the past five years from 38.8 percent to 41.2 percent.

Some analysts say Wal-Mart is moving in the right direction, but has a ways to go.

They note that there is only one woman among CEO Mike Duke's 11 direct reports.