Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Publication
- File Type
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Compromised Worker And The Limits Of Employment Discrimination Law, Peter Siegelman
The Compromised Worker And The Limits Of Employment Discrimination Law, Peter Siegelman
Peter Siegelman
Why do employment discrimination plaintiffs fare so poorly? Many explanations have been offered, but this essay suggests a new one: a substantial fraction of all plaintiffs are “compromised” workers, meaning that they have done something on the job that might plausibly justify the treatment about which they are complaining. As a matter of both doctrine and logic, compromised plaintiffs can be legitimate victims of discrimination. But they face substantial difficulties in proving that their employer relied on a prohibited characteristic in its treatment of them because, by definition, their behavior offers a plausibly legitimate explanation for their treatment. After demonstrating …
Judicial Expenditures And Litigation Access: Evidence From Auto Injuries, Paul Heaton, Eric Helland
Judicial Expenditures And Litigation Access: Evidence From Auto Injuries, Paul Heaton, Eric Helland
Paul Heaton
Despite claims of a judicial funding crisis, there exists little direct evidence linking judicial budgets to court utilization. Using data on thousands of auto injuries covering a 15-year period, we measure the relationship between state-level court expenditures and the propensity of injured parties to pursue litigation. Controlling for state and plaintiff characteristics and accounting for the potential endogeneity of expenditures, we show that expenditures increase litigation access, with our preferred estimates indicating that a 10% budget increase increases litigation rates by 3%. Consistent with litigation models in which high litigation costs undermine the threat posture of plaintiffs, increases in court …
Law In The Shadow Of Bargaining: The Feedback Effect Of Civil Settlements, Ben Depoorter
Law In The Shadow Of Bargaining: The Feedback Effect Of Civil Settlements, Ben Depoorter
Ben Depoorter
Lawmakers, courts, and legal scholars often express concern that settlement agreements withhold important information from the public. This Essay identifies, to the contrary, problematic issues involving the availability of information on non-representative settlements. The theoretical and empirical evidence presented in this Essay demonstrates that, despite the widespread use of nondisclosure agreements, information on settlements is distributed both inside and outside legal communities, reaching actors through various channels including the oral culture in legal communities, specialized reporters, professional interest organizations, and media coverage. Moreover, information on private settlement agreements circulates more widely if the agreed compensation in a given settlement exceeds …