Settling for Less? Organizational Determinants of Discrimination-Charge Outcomes

Abstract

Although more than 60,000 workers formally charge their employers with unlawful sex or race employment discrimination annually, fewer than one in five charges results in outcomes favorable to the complainant. Building on sociolegal and organizational theory, this study examines how employing organizations avoid unfavorable discrimination‐charge outcomes. Using EEO‐1 establishment reports matched to discrimination charge data provided by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, I assess the effect of employers' legal experience, resources, and indicators of legal compliance on the likelihood that complainants receive favorable charge outcomes, benefits, monetary settlements, and policy change mandates. In general, I find that legal experience, establishment size, and indicators of legal compliance insulate employers from unfavorable charge outcomes. However, in situations where employers are willing to settle claims, legally experienced establishments are more likely to pay monetary damages and receive mandates to change their workplace policies.

Relational Power, Legitimation, and Pregnancy Discrimination

“…An employee that falls into a protected group must first be legally conscious of such protection and then must traverse both employer control over information about existing workplace rights and the threat of retaliation (Albiston 2005;hirsh and Lyons 2010;Kelly 2010). Moreover, those who reach the dispute stage are often met with tremendous emotional and financial strain, not to mention uncertainty regarding a favorable resolution (Berrey, hoffman, and Nielsen 2012;hirsh 2008). Such pressures ensure that many grievances never reach the dispute stage.…”

“…This has been linked to the changing "social contract" over the last several decades, wherein workplace protections have declined and employment has become increasingly precarious (Kalleberg 2009). Indeed, nearly half of all contemporary private sector discrimination charges are now based on the single issue of firing (Byron 2010;hirsh 2008).…”

Missing Links: Referrer Behavior and Job Segregation

“…Contrary to popular wisdom, we show that organizational policies designed to influence referrer behaviors can mitigate most if not all of the segregating effects of referring. , and is associated with the imposition of mandated policy changes on organizational defendants in EEO lawsuits (regarding sex discrimination cases, see Hirsh [2008]). In light of these perceived organizational and societal perils, the numerous calls to reduce or even eliminate recruitment via employee 1 Although referral recruitment is viewed to have associations with both the race and sex segregation of jobs, in this paper we focus on sex segregation.…”

Elimination of Gender-Related Employment Disparities Through Statistical Process Control

“…We also hope to redirect the stalled discussion regarding the precise amount of employment discrimination in the U.S. economy, toward a dialogue about potential collaborative efforts between enforcement agencies and industry trade groups. Our paper is motivated in part by past and current research that raises serious questions regarding the rationality and efficacy of EEOC and OFCCP's enforcement efforts (Heckman and Wolpin, 1976;Hirsh, 2008;Leonard, 1985), particularly given today's more complex forms of gender discrimination (Graham et al, 2000;Krieger and Fiske, 2006).…”

“…There are serious concerns with relying on employee complaints as the primary means of eradicating employment discrimination (Hirsh 2008;Selmi, 2006;Krieger & Fiske, 2006).…”