Dive Brief:

• Canada’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. violated Quebec law when it shut down a Walmart store there in 2005 when it was in the midst of labor negotiations.

• The United Food and Commercial Works union had been certified at the store, and when workers couldn’t reach agreement on a contract, the union sought arbitration.

• However, Wal-Mart shut down the store, saying it was unprofitable, and the union sued over the lost jobs.

Dive Insight:

Canada’s highest court has finally ruled in this matter of a Walmart store that was closed in 2005, just as its workers asked for arbitration over their contracts. Wal-Mart has argued that the store was unprofitable, but the court clearly wasn’t buying it; the decision was unanimous.

The matter feeds into Wal-Mart’s reputation as a retailer unfriendly to its workers, something that has drawn protests in the past. In an era where some retailers are unilaterally adopting higher minimum wages, it will be interesting to see if the likes of Amazon and Wal-Mart will change some policies that lead to unwanted stains on their corporate reputations.