Wal-Mart settles suits by workers

Shares of Wal-Mart fell 70 cents to $55.29.

Eli Portnoy, a Los Angeles brand strategist, said lawsuits against Wal-Mart had hurt its reputation as a good place to work.

"They do appear to take advantage of these employees as they can and they backtrack and pay up settlements," Portnoy said. "You hear more and more cases of Wal-Mart being less employee-friendly and more Big Brother, more controlling and more money- focused. I don't think anybody thinks Wal-Mart is still the same kind of company it used to be."

Still, he said, the company probably wouldn't suffer from consumer backlash -- especially with the country in a recession.

"It won't ruin the brand in this particular economic climate," he said, "because the vast majority of their customers are so desperate to save every penny that even bad news about how they may mistreat their employees isn't going to stop people from shopping there."

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andrea.chang@latimes.com

Times staff writer Marc Lifsher contributed to this report.