The Indiana Electrical Workers Pension Trust Fund sued Wal-Mart in 2013 for access to its internal records. The New York Times first reported that Wal-Mart knew about bribes its employees made in Mexico in 2005. The suit alleges that the board of directors did not properly investigate the claims, breaching the company’s fiduciary duty.
On July 10, Wal-Mart lawyers argued the retailer had the right to retain internal documents and records involved in the ongoing Federal Corruption Practices Act lawsuit. Mark Perry, a lawyer for the corporation, claims that the documents “are indisputably protected by attorney-client privilege,” reports The City Wire.
The Chancery Supreme Court ruled that because investigators showed that the internal reports were necessary to their investigations, Wal-Mart must turn them over to the court, reports Bloomberg.
The company’s internal files show that the scheme involved at least US$ 24 million in suspicious payments. Federal prosecutors are also looking further into possible foreign bribes that Wal-Mart allegedly gave to officials in China, India, and Brazil.
