Contesting Workplace Discrimination in Court - American Bar ...

THE EEOCAs shown earlier, the EEOC does not often rule on the merits of a claim one way or the other prior to the filing of aprivate lawsuit. But when it does make a finding, it is a rather strong predictor of how the case will conclude in district court.Figure 5.10 shows clearly that the likelihood of a settlement is significantly higher when the EEOC previously made afinding in support of the plaintiff (59 percent of such cases) than when it did not find the claim to have merit (33 percent).Conversely, pro-employer outcomes—dismissal or summary judgment—are far more likely when the EEOC has not foundthe claim to have merit. However, trials appear to be equally likely for both scenarios (about seven percent).figure 5.10 :percent case outcomesby eeoc determinationsettleddismissedsummary judgmenttrial-39-