Employers beware: Courts are handing out larger and larger awards to fewer and fewer employees!

If you are a California employer, you need to know…

doing business in California is getting more and more expensive.

It is no secret that California is one of the least “employer-friendly” states in the nation. Employers must abide by an endless amount of rules and regulations, many of which are being amended, updated, or changed each year. Clearly, California favors its employees.

Well, a new report released this month shows us just how “employee-friendly” California really is. In 2021, a total of $1.17 billion was awarded to employees in a measly 1,016 employment cases. These employees walked away with some very large awards.

Last year’s $1.17 billion in awards was the highest amount of awards to employees in nearly a decade, despite the fact that the number of employment cases actually filed in 2021 was the lowest in the past decade.

Yes, you read that right. In 2021, fewer employees filed fewer employment cases against their employer than in all of the previous ten years. However, even with so few employment cases filed, the courts awarded the largest awards than in all the previous ten years.

How is this possible? What does this mean?

Well, this means that courts (and juries) are happy to provide bigger and bigger awards to fewer and fewer employees. Keep in mind that many employees never even worked in the office or workplace in most of 2020 and 2021. These statistics also remind us that the endless amount of rules and regulations placed on employers come with some pretty hefty penalties.

In addition, there have been an increase in FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accommodation cases in 2021. This is particularly interesting because at least one federal court had recently held that gender dysphoria is now a disability protected under the ADA.

This means that employers need to keep abreast of the new rulings and be aware that the traditional views of what is and is not considered a disability is changing. If you are an employer, you will need to be on guard and actively tailoring your company policies and actions to reduce your exposure for discrimination – including the new non-obvious, non-traditional ones.

Let one of our many experienced employment law attorneys help you protect your business, your livelihood, and your family. Call our office today to discuss how.

Source: https://lexmachina.com/blog/lex-machina-releases-its-2022-employment-litigation-report/