Sometimes the Principle is Worth The Expense

Wal-Mart is fighting a $7,000 fine and spending millions to do it, all because they believe the principle is worth it:

The federal government, whose vast regulatory powers have led some businesses to complain they cannot fight back, has apparently met its match.

Wal-Mart has spent millions of dollars in the past year challenging a federal fine that was levied against the retailer after the stampede death of a temporary employee during a post-Thanksgiving sales blitz at a Long Island, N.Y., store.

The amount of the fine is a pittance for Wal-Mart -- a mere $7,000. But the company says the the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, which levied the fine, isn't playing fair and that the fine could lead to damaging consequences.

"OSHA wants to hold Walmart accountable for a standard that was neither proposed nor issued at the time of the incident," Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rossiter said in a written statement. "The citation has far-reaching implications for the retail industry that could subject retailers to unfairly harsh penalties and restrictions on future sales promotions."

Officials at the Labor Department have reportedly complained that, over the past five months, they've used resources equivalent to five full-time lawyers -- or 17 percent of the attorney hours in their New York office -- in fighting the case against Wal-Mart.

The case ended last Wednesday; a ruling isn't due for at least 60 days and is not expected until early 2011.

Tony Ciuffo, a spokesman for the Long Island office of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, told FoxNews.com that he could not comment on reports that officials were consumed by the case. But he did say that the agency fined Wal-Mart under a section in the OSHA Act that says an employer is obligated to "keep [the] workplace free from recognized hazards that are likely to cause death or serious physical harm."

Wal-Mart has argued that if it concedes in the case, it could be subjected to harsher sanctions in the future if another crowd-control tragedy should occur.

The concept of just paying the fine to avoid more expense in fighting it can really backfire at a later time and Wal-Mart realizes that. Better to spend the money now to end this thing rather than leave the door open to repeated problems in the future.