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The Evolution Of Employment Discrimination Law In The 1990s: An Empirical Examination, John Donohue, Peter Siegelman

Peter Siegelman

Two major pieces of employment discrimination legislation were passed in the early 1990s: the 1991 Civil Rights Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. Using some simple regression models, we examine the effects of this legislation on the volume, content and outcomes of employment discrimination cases filed in federal courts. We find, first, that the volume of discrimination cases nearly doubled between 1992 and 1997, in contrast to a 10 percent decline during the previous 8 years, and despite a sharply falling unemployment rate that–in the past–would have substantially reduced the amount of litigation. We also observe a significant shift in …