By ELIZABETH DUNBAR
Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS - A judge has ruled against Wal-Mart in a class-action lawsuit, saying the discount retailer violated Minnesota state labor laws 2 million times by cutting worker break time and forcing employees to work off the clock.

Dakota County Judge Hon. Robert King Jr. ordered Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Monday to pay $6.5 million in compensatory damages, but Wal-Mart could end up paying much more than that after a jury in October considers civil penalties and punitive damages.

"We believe that this award not only helps the individual clients, but it also sends a message to Wal-Mart that it has to pay for its mistakes," said Justin Perl, an attorney representing the former Wal-Mart employees named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore said the company disagrees with portions of the judge's decision and is considering an appeal.

"Our policy is to pay every associate for every hour worked and to make rest or meal breaks available to every employee," Moore said, adding that many Wal-Mart employees who testified during the trial said they were getting breaks and being paid properly.

"That said, we're always going to take seriously any sort of allegations of our policy not being followed," she said.

The class-action part of the lawsuit represented 56,000 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club employees in Minnesota and covered a period from September 1998 through January 2004.