Latest Research: Employment Verdicts Rising
According to the latest study from Jury Verdict Research, discrimination verdicts are on the rise. The median award rose a whopping 70%, from $147,500 in 2006 to $252,000 in 2007.
Some other fascinating facts . . .
What are an employer’s chances of winning at trial?
Employers won only 38% of discrimination lawsuits in 2007, the worst win rate of the decade and down from 45% in 2006. The lowest win rate (30%) was in sex discrimination cases and the highest (43%) was in race discrimination cases.
What employers took the biggest hit?
Manufacturing/industrial had the biggest verdicts, followed by government, transportation and then service/retail.
What forms of discrimination generate the biggest verdicts?
Age discrimination was #1, followed by disability, sex and race.
Are employers better off in federal or state court?
Employers are better off in federal court, where they won 43% of the cases in 2007, versus only 34% in state court. In addition, the median federal award was 22% lower than the median state award.
What should we expect in the near future?
As we discussed here, employment lawsuits typically rise in a downturn. So, it’s fairly reasonable to expect the above numbers to continue rising.
Where can I get more?
For the full report – required reading for all HR professionals, business owners and employment lawyers – click here.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
That’s a real nice post with quick tid-bits of useful information. I do think that employment racial discrimination is pretty high along with other discrimination. In fact i am offering a free report on employment discrimination. pls check out at my site.