Today's Date: March 28, 2024
Family Source Consultants Celebrates Michigan Legislature Passing Landmark Fertility Health Care Act (House Bill 5207) to Legali   •   Guo Guangchang: "Focus on building sustainable, predictable and enterprise with stable profit growth "   •   "SHAKIRA DESDE TIMES SQUARE," an Exclusive Special Taking Viewers Behind-the-Scenes of Shakira's Historic Surprise Performance i   •   Carnegie Learning Wins 2024 EdTech Award for MATHstream   •   Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and Wells Fargo Bank Award $750K to CC Housing for Senior Affordable Housing Development   •   Stora Enso publishes Green and Sustainability-Linked Financing Report 2023   •   The Lenserf Group Launches Emotional Intelligence Academy for HBCU Interns   •   EIG’s MidOcean Energy Completes Acquisition of Tokyo Gas’ Interests in Portfolio of Australian Integrated LNG Projec   •   SLB Announces Agreement to Acquire Majority Ownership in Aker Carbon Capture   •   Midea Group Breaks Revenue and Profit Records with RMB 373.7 Billion in 2023   •   American Indian College Fund Invites Indigenous Academics, Administrators, and Student Services Personnel to Participate in High   •   Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and Palantir Partner to Create Safe Conditions for In-Person Education in Schools   •   MDWerks’ Two Trees Beverage Subsidiary to Kick Off Co-Sponsorship of Team Combat League in TCL’s Second Season Debut   •   KB Home Named to Newsweek’s 2024 List of America’s Most Trustworthy Companies for a Third Consecutive Year   •   ADM Names Commonwealth Warehouse Inc. as a 2023 Supplier Award Winner   •   Government of Canada signs two bilateral agreements with Quebec to support initiatives to improve health care   •   Avocado Green Releases 2023 Impact & Sustainability Report, Highlighting Brand Leadership in Environmental and Social Respon   •   Dr. Melissa Ivers Launches Prestigious Scholarship Recognizing Triumph Over Adversity   •   Parental avoidance of toxic exposures could help prevent autism, ADHD in children, new study shows   •   Compass Minerals Announces Amendment to Credit Agreement
Bookmark and Share

Research Reveals Majority Of Employment Discrimination Cases Brought By Individuals

CHICAGO - Employment discrimination lawsuits are one of the largest categories of civil cases filed in the federal court.  Yet, widely reported class actions lawsuits brought in recent years, like those against WalMart, Mitsubishi and other well-known corporations, are extremely rare, according to a new study released by the American Bar Foundation.  Most people who file employment discrimination lawsuits do so as solo plaintiffs and are likely to receive modest settlements if they receive anything at all.

 

“Individual Justice or Collective Legal Mobilization? Employment Discrimination Litigation in the Post Civil Rights United States,” published in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, studies employment discrimination cases filed in federal courts between 1987 and 2003.  Laura Beth Nielsen, Robert L. Nelson and Ryon Lancaster reveal the startling finding that the overwhelming majority of employment discrimination cases consist of a solitary plaintiff.  Cases involving multiple plaintiffs, class actions and representation by the EEOC or a public interest law firm are extraordinarily rare.  More than 40 percent of plaintiffs either have their cases dismissed or lose at summary judgment.  The other half are likely to settle very early in the process. Only 6percent of those filing employment discrimination lawsuits in federal court go to trial, where their chances of winning are one in three.

 

The study draws data from case filings in the recent decades that some scholars refer to as “the post civil rights era” in the United States, a time in which anti-discrimination law has shifted from attacking blatant exclusion of minorities and women from market opportunities to addressing a broader set of protected classes, including the aged and disabled.  The new study delves into how such lawsuits fare in the courts and what determines their outcomes. The findings have implications for the relationship between law and workplace discrimination, and, perhaps, for the legitimacy of law itself.

 

“There is a lot of speculation about what kinds of claims make up the bulk of employment discrimination litigation, but these debates are rarely informed by the numbers,” said Nielsen, research professor at the American Bar Foundation and associate professor of sociology and director of the Legal Studies Program at Northwestern University. “For example, many commentators claim that class action lawsuits are quite common.  In reality, they make up less than 1 percent of the federal caseload.” 

 

The study explains outcomes of these cases in detail.  In “Individual Justice,” the authors show that for plaintiffs without legal representation, the prospect of receiving even a modest settlement or going to trial is slim. 20 percent of plaintiffs are not represented by lawyers. Over one-half of them have their cases dismissed.  Nielsen explained, “most cases don’t get anywhere near trial. Many plaintiffs, especially those without legal representation, are dismissed or lose on summary judgment.  Many companies offer token settlements early in the process.” She concluded, “As a result, very few cases make it to trial.  And in those, plaintiffs mostly lose.”

 

Co-authors with Nielsen are American Bar Foundation director and NorthwesternUniversity professor Robert L. Nelson and ABF faculty fellow Ryon Lancaster of the University of Chicago.

 

Professor and expert on employment civil rights, Samuel Estreicher of New York University Law School said, “This kind of careful research about what actually happens when people file discrimination lawsuits is unprecedented and vitally important for policy making,” as he underscored the report’s value for policy-makers, academics and lawyers.

 

The American Bar Foundation is the nation's leading research institute for the empirical study of law. An independent, nonprofit organization for more than 50 years, ABF seeks to advance the understanding and improvement of law through research projects of unmatched scale and quality on the most pressing issues facing the legal system in the United States and the world. 

 

For more information on the study’s data set, please contact: Laura Beth Nielsen, lnielsen@abfn.org; or 312.988.6574

 

                        

 

- 30 -

                               





American Bar Association, 321 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654-7598 United States


Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News