Facts & Articles
With an upward trend in employment-related lawsuits and government administrative actions, employers cannot afford to believe they have all their bases covered. It is evident claims are becoming more expensive. Furthermore, employers must recognize that during troubling economic times, the likelihood of receiving a claim increases. And while verdicts have been increasing monetarily, there is also an upward trend in small businesses being battered by more frivolous claims.
According to a Special
Reports Series on EPLI put out by www.lawthatworks.com, the current
state of employment lawsuits consist of the following:
- There
are currently more than 25 federal and state laws and hundreds of regulations
that apply to almost every relationship in the workplace.
- According
to the Society for Human Resource Management, three out of five companies
are sued by former employees every year.
- According to a survey
by the California Chamber of Commerce, half of those companies sued
spent in excess of $50,000, and one-third spent more than $100,000 defending
against employment-related claims; and that does not include the cost
of settlement or verdict.
- The
fastest-growing categories of workplace discrimination claims are those of
retaliation, sexual harassment, and disability law violations.
- The
number of employment discrimination cases filed in federal court has doubled
since 1992.
- The average plaintiff's verdict in employment law cases
exceeds $250,000, with 15% of all verdicts exceeding $1 million.
- The most common targets for federal discrimination claims are private employers with between 15 and 100 employees (41.5%); second are private companies with an excess of 500 employees (23.9%); and third are private companies with between 100 and 500 employees (18%).
