Information -- Employment Discrimination

Protect Yourself Against Disastrous Employment Discrimination Claims

Employment discrimination claims are one of the largest sources of litigation for American companies today. These include allegations of age, sex, (including sexual harassment) or racial discrimination in preferences for hiring, termination or promotion. In FY 2009 – 10, the number of retaliation claims filed jumped 16%, representing 36.3% of the 99,922 claims filed with the EEOC. This is the first time retaliation claims exceeded the number of race claims.

In addition to large jury verdicts, these claims also carry the potential for very large attorneys fee awards, in some cases larger Jackson County jury returned a verdict against an employer in than the damages awarded to the plaintiff. For example, recently, a favor of two former employees who were laid off after receiving glowing performance evaluations. The plaintiffs claimed reverse discrimination and age discrimination because minorities and younger employees with lower performance reviews kept their jobs while plaintiffs were laid off. They also claimed retaliation for an alleged leak of a confidential memo. Plaintiff Griffin received $839,000 in lost income and punitive damages, while plaintiff Low received $1,780,000 in lost income and punitive damages, AND THIS DOES NOT COUNT THE ATTORNEYS FEES.

If an employer is faced with one of these claims, it is highly detrimental to the case if the company has no policy against the practice and has not required its workforce, especially those in supervisory positions, to engage in training about how to avoid behaviors constituting discrimination.

We are suggesting to all of our clients that you allow us to meet with the appropriate personnel, usually the human resources director to perform an audit of what needs to be done to help prevent the claims, and safeguard the company against liability if claims are made.