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.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 7:26 am and is filed under Employment Law News, Litigation, Studies, Trends, Verdicts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.