Class-action lawsuits alleging workplace discrimination, like the large sexual-harassment lawsuit filed against retail giant Walmart, may get a lot of press attention. But these cases are also extremely rare, according to a new study released by the American Bar Foundation.
The study, featured in the “Journal of Empirical Legal Studies” notes that most people who file employment-discrimination lawsuits do so as solo plaintiffs and are likely to receive modest settlements or nothing at all.
Study authors Laura Beth Nielsen, Robert L. Nelson and Ryon Lancaster examined employment-discrimination cases filed in federal courts between 1987 and 2003 and found that cases involving multiple plaintiffs, class actions and representation by the EEOC or a public-interest law firm are extraordinarily rare.
