Not that I need to tell you this, but it can be really bad news for an employer to get sued by an employee for unlawful discrimination.
It’s very costly and time-consuming—the cost of attorneys and legal fees, as well as the time it takes to defend a lawsuit, loss of productivity from employees who are involved in the suit, loss of productivity for the management team involved, etc.
The company could also face a public relations nightmare if the lawsuit is reported on by the newspapers and other media outlets.
Why Do Employees File Discrimination Lawsuits?
This is a very complex question with a yet unclear answer. However, I think misunderstandings can lead to an employee filing a discrimination claim.
For example, a misunderstanding can easily happen if:
- the employer hasn’t set expectations for the employee;
- there is no communication between the employee and his/her manager;
- there is no ongoing feedback about the employee’s performance; and/or
- the employee isn’t being counseled about what he/she needs to do to improve performance.
If an employee doesn’t really understand and know what he/she is not doing correctly in the performance of his/her job, the employee may look outwardly and believe it “must not be my performance, but because of the fact that I am X,Y or Z.” (For example, an individual’s race, religion, sex, age, etc).
Another reason I think an employee may choose to file a claim is because he/she hears about an employee being awarded a large settlement in a court case and thinks: “I want to do that, too.”
One other reason I think an employee may file a claim is based on the feeling that he/she has been “wronged” by his/her company somehow.
Out of all the aforementioned reasons, I think most discrimination lawsuits arise from employee misunderstandings.
This is why I truly believe it takes some really strong employer communication with employees to let them know when they’re not performing and/or meeting employer expectations.
In my next Insight, I’ll address what to do after-the-fact (if a discrimination lawsuit is brought against your company) and ways to prevent discrimination lawsuits altogether.