Workers at Walmart Battling in Court

Federal Officials are preparing a legal case to bring against the largest retailer in the world for its alleged retaliation against its employees who staged protests on Black Friday last year.

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board is in charge of protecting the right of those workers who organize to achieve better conditions at the workplace.

The Board announced through a statement on Monday that it had found merit in a number of allegations brought against Walmart.

The agency in its statement said a complaint would be filed if the parties and Walmart were not able to reach a satisfactory settlement.

Walmart has made statements on television, as well as to employees at its stores in Texas and California, that illegally were threatening a reprisal for the workers who had protested November 22, 2012, said the labor board.

The Board also announced that Walmart stores in over a dozen states had unlawfully disciplined, threatened and/or terminated its employees who had participated in the protests and strikes that were all legal.

In the same statement, the NLRB said no merit was found in the allegations that the retailer had retaliated through the changing of work schedules or that it interfered with the right of the workers to have a strike by telling protesters who were non-Walmart employees to leave Walmart property.

A spokesperson for Walmart said the retailer would pursue all its options available to defend itself as it takes all labor laws seriously. The spokesperson said the company felt its actions had been justified and legal.

The new finding stems from the claims that were filed last year relating to the protests and strikes on Black Friday by hundreds of Walmart workers around the country.

The finding by the NLRB was applauded by an advocate for the employees at Walmart.

The advocate said the decision announced confirms what workers at Walmart have known all along, the company is trying to keep employees silent illegally.

Protests by workers continue at the world’s largest retailer. Earlier in November, five workers who had been seeking an increase in wages were arrested when demonstrating in Los Angeles.