Employment Discrimination, Workplace Safety, and Contract Law

Employment Discrimination in Federal Courts

In recent years, employees have obtained new tools to file lawsuits related to job discrimination in federal courts, though they still face numerous challenges despite some rising victories. According to the findings of recent studies, workers who sue over employment discrimination tend to lose at higher rates in federal courts compared to other kinds of plaintiffs. However, many of these employees are hopeful that the recently signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will herald an improved climate for discrimination lawsuits. This is primarily because the legislation makes it easier for employees to sue over pay discrimination on the basis of race, gender, disability, or age by extending the legal deadline to file such cases.

Due to the odds against winning employment discrimination cases, some lawyers have become reluctant to take on such suits, citing the high likelihood of losing. As a result, employment discrimination case filings in federal courts declined by approximately 40 percent between 1999 and 2007, based on federal court records (Koppel par. 5).

Various reasons have been attributed to the poor track record of employment discrimination cases, including the scarcity of minorities on the bench and the inherent difficulty of proving discrimination. According to lawyers representing employers, the main reason for the relatively poor plaintiff performance is that companies tend to settle cases that appear credible quickly. Cases that are not settled are often considered frivolous and are dismissed. One major concern is that federal judges frequently terminate employment discrimination cases through motions to dismiss, in which plaintiffs are not permitted to conduct fact-finding to support their claims.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Its Impact

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act represents a significant legislative development for workers pursuing pay discrimination claims. By extending the deadline for filing such claims, the Act addresses one of the key procedural barriers that previously prevented employees from seeking redress. Workers who experience pay discrimination on the basis of race, gender, disability, or age now have a longer window in which to bring their cases before federal courts, improving access to legal recourse for those affected.

Slips and Trips at Work: Employer Obligations

Slips and trips in the workplace represent one of the most significant topics in tort law as applied to business. They are also among the most common causes of injury at work, accounting for approximately 40 percent of all reported major injuries in the working environment. Slips and trips can also contribute to other serious accidents, such as falls from height. The Health and Safety Executive has published guidance discussing the measures employers should take to prevent such incidents, offering simple, low-cost solutions that benefit both employees and their safety representatives.

The first measure employers should take is risk assessment, which involves managing health and safety risks in the workplace. Although required by law, risk assessment does not call for producing large amounts of paperwork; rather, it requires employers to examine whether they are doing enough to prevent harm and to implement sensible controls targeting risks most likely to cause injury.

The second measure involves actively managing health and safety by identifying problem areas, deciding on appropriate courses of action, implementing those decisions, and evaluating their effectiveness. In addition to these management steps, employers and employees are encouraged to adopt practical preventive measures to reduce the occurrence of slip-and-trip accidents in the workplace.