Wal-Mart intentionally failed to pay hundreds of truck drivers in California the minimum wage for duties such as inspecting and washing their vehicles, a federal jury decided Wednesday, awarding the workers more than $54 million in damages and opening up the retail giant to additional penalties.

Seven jurors returned the verdict in a lawsuit that also accused the company of not properly paying drivers for layovers. Wal-Mart argued that truckers are paid for activities that include maintenance tasks and that they are not working during layovers.

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The jury sent a clear message, said William B. Gould, an emeritus professor at Stanford Law School.

“Any time a corporation in the public eye, as Wal-Mart is, is found to have engaged in labor law violations, that’s going to send a message to both the public and to employees and it’s going to be a strong deterrent to future misconduct,” said Gould, who also served as chairman of the National Labor Relations Board in the 1990s.