Litigating Employment Discrimination Cases

Here are tactics, arguments, and documents to help you with the practical aspects of discrimination litigation: case evaluation, pleading, discovery, summary judgment, experts, mediation, and more.

You receive pattern arguments supported by over 1,100 recent cases with parentheticals and pinpoint citations, pleadings, motions, discovery documents, deposition outlines, pitfalls to avoid … and most important … practice-proven tactics and techniques—as well as over a hundred forms in print and on CD-ROM. Some of the areas covered include:

Discovery

Defending employer’s efforts to interview the plaintiff. §6:62
Controlling ancillary proceedings. §6:66
Ensuring evidence is preserved. §6:81
Tips and techniques for deposing discrimination witnesses. §6:108
Deposition questions annotated with practice tips and case law. §6:111
Questions for decision-maker §6:111, human resources professional §6:115, and investigator of plaintiff’s complaints. §6:116
Requests for production of documents by type of discrimination. §6:134
Handling common discovery tricks of the defense. §6:136.2
Model interrogatories. §6:151
Pattern requests for admissions. §6:160
Defending the plaintiff’s deposition. §6:175
Opportunity questions and how they should be answered. §6:188
Handling common defense deposition tricks. §6:191
Checklist of common hidden weaknesses in your case. §6:199
Extensive list of probable defense questions to use in plaintiff’s mock deposition.
Annotated with practice tips and case citations. §6:207
Aggressive plaintiff deposition tactics, and when to employ them. §6:249
Blocking §6:255, and handling §6:261 defense mental examinations.
Defending document requests. §6:271

Summary judgment

Summary judgment oriented deposition tips for employers. §8:61
Drafting tips for employers by type of discrimination, annotated with pattern argument language, case citations, and pitfalls to avoid. §8:70
Pattern reply brief arguments for employers, specific to plaintiff argument, including stray remark, conjecture, inconsistent declarations, smoke and mirrors (surprising difficult to defend). §8:85
Handling McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting test. §8:129
Common ways that defense counsel misstate the burden-shifting test. Tactics and arguments to use in response, with citations. §8:131
Multiple responses, with case authorities, to use when defense argues same group inference §8:132, same hirer-firer §8:133, RIF or layoff §8:142, or stray remarks §8:143.

Pretrial

Common defense motions in limine, with extensive case authorities on stray remarks and me-too evidence. §9:56
Strategies and citations for opposing these defense motions. §9:78
Common plaintiff motions in limine – not me-too, unrelated bad acts, performance problems at other employers, good deeds, and collateral source payments. §9:111
Handling motions to bifurcate §9:131, and motions to sever §9:145

Nearly every chapter in Litigating Employment Discrimination Cases contains dozens of highlighted pointers, cautions, alerts, and arguments. Most are supported with case citations, sample language, or pattern forms. For example:

Related state torts

Fraud claim opens door to additional damages. Under these circumstances, the employee can sue for various contract-related claims, but the fraud claim may be more appealing because…. §3:198.1

Always consider pleading concealment. Include concealment allegations along with a fraud claim, as it is often easier to prove the employer suppressed a material fact than to prove the employer misrepresented a material fact. §3:204

Pleading

Consider including time-barred conduct in complaint. Even if you believe that certain conduct will be time-barred, consider alleging that conduct because it may be relevant to proving that the defendant’s articulated reasons for its actions are pretextual…. §5:11

Tolling of administrative charge filing deadlines. Exercise great caution in relying on tolling agreements because defense counsel will search for any possible loophole to argue that the tolling agreement does not apply to certain defendants or claims. For example, in discrimination cases, defense counsel may…. §5:16

Discovery

Seek evidence to show decision-making process contaminated. In the absence of evidence that the decision-maker harbored discriminatory animus, seek evidence that the decision was based on information “contaminated” by one who did harbor discriminatory animus. For example…. §6:113

Summary judgment

Sample argument. If discovery reveals that discriminatory comments were made in the workplace, defense counsel will almost certainly argue to the court that the comments are merely inadmissible “stray remarks.” You must address this argument head-on in the opposition. For example... §8:145

The effective pleading language, cases sorted by pros and cons, pitfalls and solutions, pattern discovery requests, and common defense tricks detailed in Litigating Employment Discrimination Cases will help you stay focused on the important issues that lead to successful litigation.

Updated annually. ISBN 1-58012-100-4 Book price: $149.00

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Related Titles:

Age Discrimination Litigation

Employment Evidence

Federal Employment Jury Instructions

Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases

Representing California Sexual Harassment Plaintiffs

Texas Employment Law

Updated 11/11/09