Workplace Plaintiffs Face Long Odds According to Lex Machina Data
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Only 1 percent of plaintiffs who file federal job discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims win on the merits at trial, according to an analysis by the Lex Machina legal analytics firm.
Lex Machina last week launched an employment litigation search and analysis module that covers findings of hostile work environment, retaliation and Title VII issues such as race bias, as well as discrimination based on age, equal rights, military, pregnancy and rehabilitation. Lex Machina reviewed nearly 72,000 cases and found that nearly three-fourths them settle, while employers prevail on summary judgment 13 percent of the time. In more bad news for plaintiffs, only 192 damage awards since 2009 included punitive damages.
Median time to termination is less than a year for these cases, indicating the high settlement rate. Median time to summary judgment is 19 months, with a median two years to trial.
“It’s all just evolutionary,” he says, arguing that the software levels the playing field for the solos and small firms that represent claimants. “One of those big three law firms could have assigned a group of law clerks to grind for two weeks, and here it all is at the click of a button.”
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