Contesting Workplace Discrimination in Court - American Bar ...

PLAINTIFF CHARACTERISTICS IN RACE, SEX, AGE, AND DISABILITY CASESEightpercent ofrace casesare filed bywhites.The following figures present the race, sex, and occupational characteristics of plaintiffs in the four most frequentdiscrimination type allegations.race casesAlthough federal law protects all races from employment discrimination, African Americans account for the overwhelmingproportion of plaintiffs in cases alleging racial bias (80 percent). By contrast, eight percent of race cases are filed by whites;all remaining racial groups make up just 11 percent of race-based EDL claims (Figure 4.4). So-called “reverse discrimination”cases are relatively rare.Turning to the plaintiff’s sex in race cases (Figure 4.5), men are substantially more likely to allege race discrimination than arewomen (58 percent to 42 percent). As for occupation, Figure 4.6 shows that nearly half (48 percent) of all race cases involveplaintiffs working in sales, services, or administration. A sizably smaller proportion of cases are filed by those in managerialor professional occupations (30 percent), and is smaller still for those in blue collar or other occupations (22 percent).figure 4.4 :plaintiff’s race in racediscrimination claims by percent(n=695)-21-