Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Cashiers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, asked a federal judge to order the company to stop threatening to fire Texas employees who join a lawsuit claiming unpaid wages.

Workers' lawyers sent out notices Aug. 4 to more than 100,000 current and former Wal-Mart and Sam's Club cashiers in Texas, inviting them to join the litigation. Wal-Mart managers asked employees to turn over the notices and sign statements that they never worked off the clock as the suit claims, according to court papers. The cashiers asked U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent to order Wal-Mart to stop ``improper communications'' with workers. A hearing on the request is set for Aug. 23.

Wal-Mart's conduct ``borderlines on criminal witness intimidation,'' the cashiers said in an Aug. 15 request to Kent. It's illegal under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ``for Wal-Mart to threaten its current and former associates with adverse consequences for filing claims under this lawsuit,'' workers said in the suit.

The lawsuit is one of more than 70 filed against Wal-Mart in federal and state courts across the U.S. claiming the company failed to pay hourly wages for all time worked. California hourly employees won a $172 million verdict in December over unpaid meal breaks. The company faces similar trials in Philadelphia in September and Massachusetts in October.

Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley said the claims have ``no merit and we plan to demonstrate that in court on Wednesday.''

Wal-Mart's employees in Texas are vulnerable to threats, said attorney Russell Lloyd, who represents the cashiers.

`A Lot of Power'

``These people have a lot of power,'' he said of Wal-Mart. ``In some places, Wal-Mart is the only job in town because they've run everyone else off.''

The company may be legally responsible if store managers in Texas are attempting to intimidate workers, said Patricia Edwards of Seattle-based Wentworth, Hauser & Violich, which has $8 billion in assets, including Wal-Mart shares.

``It's bad if you've got store managers doing it,'' she said. ``Store managers from Wal-Mart have better things to do than to thumb through legal filings.''

The Wal-Mart workers were sent a packet including details about the lawsuit and an opt-in form, which they were told to sign and send in if they wanted to be included in the lawsuit. About 1,500 cashiers have opted in so far, Lloyd said. The deadline for joining is Nov. 3.

Several employees called the attorneys after receiving the packets, saying they were afraid to participate in the lawsuit for fear that they would lose their jobs. One former employee and one current cashier complained of intimidation, the workers said in the court filing.

TRO Request

These workers filed affidavits along with the request for a ``temporary restraining order,'' barring the practice. In one, filed Aug. 18, Anette Thomas, a cashier in Kingwood, Texas, says the store manager and assistant manager were threatening workers with firing if they joined the lawsuit.

These managers ``are calling in every associate who works at Store No. 3579 when they report for work,'' Thomas said. ``Each associate is made to log on to the computer to a section called The Wire, where they must complete an electronic survey stating they do not work off the clock.''

After finishing the electronic survey, each individual associated was instructed to ``handwrite a statement saying they do not work off the clock,'' Thomas said. Associates were told by the managers ``if they do not compete the electronic survey in The Wire and execute the handwritten statement they can be written up and/or terminated,'' she said.

Other Affidavit

In the other affidavit, filed Aug. 15, former employee Latasha Walters said a personnel representative of the Lancaster, Texas, Wal-Mart told her ``if I filled out the opt-in notice and mailed it in, I would not be eligible for re-hire at that store or any Wal-Mart store.'' The personnel representative ``also informed me that she was having all cashiers at her store who received similar opt-in packets to bring them into the store and turn them over to her,'' Walters said.

Shares of Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart fell 40 cents to $44.09 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

The lawsuit is Adcox v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., No. 3:04-cv- 00633, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Galveston).

To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Cronin Fisk in Southfield, Michigan, at 2947 or mcfisk@bloomberg.net and Lauren Coleman-Lochner in New York at llochner@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 21, 2006 16:28 EDT