Contesting Workplace Discrimination in Court - American Bar ...

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OUTCOMESTrials—invariably theleast commonEDL outcome—becomeincreasinglyinfrequentthroughout theentire 1987-2003period.Figure 6.3 shows changes in EDL outcomes over time. Each outcome—settlement, dismissal, summary judgment, and trial—reveals a degree of volatility. Settlements increased steadily between 1987 and 2000, before decreasing somewhat sharplybetween 2001-03. Proportions of dismissals and summary judgments stay steady until 2001-03, after which they diverge inopposite directions: dismissals go up while summary judgments substantially decrease. And finally, trials—invariably the leastcommon EDL outcome—become increasingly infrequent throughout the entire 1987-2003 period. Indeed, after accountingfor about 12 percent of all outcome between 1987-92, by 2001-03, that proportion had dropped dramatically to just overone percent of EDL outcomes.figure 6.3 :percent of outcomesby time periodsettleddismissedsummary judgmenttrial-46-
Part 7 | ConclusionOnly through the systematic sampling of case filings, such as that employed in this study, is it possible to understand how employmentcivil rights litigation operates. Our findings rebut many misconceptions about discrimination litigation. Most fundamental,we find that EDL overwhelmingly consists of cases brought by individual plaintiffs (not class actions, multiple plaintiff cases, orlawsuits by the EEOC or public interest organizations). These individuals overwhelmingly complain of disparate treatment, ratherthan complain about employer policies as would be the subject of disparate impact cases. A significant percentage of cases arebrought by plaintiffs who do not have the benefit of counsel, and these plaintiffs have their cases dismissed forty percent of thetime. Those claims that are brought by a class, multiple plaintiffs, or the EEOC enjoy much greater chance of success. The mostcommon outcome of a lawsuit is settlement. A significant percentage of plaintiffs lose through a defendant’s motion for summaryjudgment. Very few cases proceed to trial. Plaintiffs prevail in less than one-third of trials.Despite some variation across types of legal claims; the time period in which a case was brought; the federal district in which acase was brought; and the race, gender, age, and disability status of plaintiffs, these patterns are remarkably similar across cases.-47-
Page 2 and 3: Contesting Workplace Discrimination
Page 4 and 5: Table of Contents and Figurespart 1
Page 6 and 7: Table of Contents and Figurespart 6
Page 8 and 9: This report summarizes the basic ch
Page 10 and 11: TYPES OF DISCRIMINATIONAbout40 perc
Page 13 and 14: figure 2.6 :percent of cases withon
Page 15 and 16: STATUTESFigure 2.9 displays the per
Page 17 and 18: THEORY OF THE CASEThere are two the
Page 19 and 20: figure 2.14 :percent of cases inwhi
Page 21 and 22: EEOC AS PLAINTIFFThe EEOC’s admin
Page 23 and 24: DISCRIMINATION ISSUESThe breakdowno
Page 25 and 26: Part 4 | Plaintiff CharacteristicsF
Page 27 and 28: PLAINTIFF CHARACTERISTICS IN RACE,
Page 29 and 30: sex casesThe vastmajority ofsex cas
Page 31 and 32: age casesBy awide margin,whites mak
Page 33 and 34: disability casesPlaintiff character
Page 35 and 36: Part 5 | Employment Discrimination
Page 37 and 38: DISCRIMINATION TYPES AND ISSUESFigu
Page 39 and 40: STATUTESThe breakdown of outcomes b
Page 41 and 42: PLAINTIFFS AND PLAINTIFF REPRESENTA
Page 43 and 44: pilf casesJust 20(well under1 perce
Page 45 and 46: THE EEOCAs shown earlier, the EEOC
Page 47 and 48: TRIALS AND APPEALSAs is clear from
Page 49 and 50: Part 6 | Time TrendsOur final secti
Page 51: DISCRIMINATION ISSUEFigure 6.2 disp
Page 55: Quotes will gohere. Quotes willgo h

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