SAN FRANCISCO - On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that female Wal-Mart staff can go forward with their class-action lawsuit against the retailer, the Washington Post reports. The lawsuit alleges that Walmart paid its female employees less than male workers and also promoted fewer of them.

In a 6-5 decision, the appeals court judges did not decide on whether discrimination took place at Walmart but only that women workers could band together to sue the company. Walmart will ask the U.S. Supreme Court for a review but attorneys for the workers want the case to go before a jury by year??s end.

"Our clients are determined to see this case through to its conclusion," said Joseph Sellers, co-lead counsel.

The first class covered females working at Walmart since 1998, which would be an estimated 1.6 million, potentially the biggest U.S. sex discrimination case in history. But the appeals court decision shut out women employees who were no longer employed by Walmart before the lawsuit was filed nine years ago.

Sellers said that class would number more than a million females, but Walmart puts that figure at closer to half a million. The appeals court tossed the matter of the class seeking back pay and punitive damages back to a lower court.

This ruling upholds the appeals court??s earlier decision that okayed the class, but Walmart had requested reconsideration with a bigger panel of judges. "We??ve always believed that this case presented issues that go far beyond the parties," said Ted Boutrous, representing Walmart. "This formula is really a recipe for massive litigation against companies around the country."