The challenging field of employment law is one that has been growing significantly, and will continue to grow, over the years. Earlier this year, The National Law Journal and The New York Times published two articles which re-confirmed that employment law is actively growing. The National Law Journal article discussed the fact that major corporate law firms are adding attorneys in their labor and employment groups due to the increase in volume and complexity of the employment matters that their employer-clients are facing. The article that appeared in The New York Times discussed the increase in discrimination claims filed by employees with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The prevalence of employment discrimination in the workplace is confirmed by statistics from the EEOC. Between the years of 2006 and 2007, the number of employment discrimination claims filed with the EEOC rose by over 7,000. The total number of claims in 2007 reached an astounding 82,792. This change is likely just the beginning of a continual increase in claims because of an ever changing workforce that more frequently relies upon their rights under the Human Rights Laws.
Employment discrimination is an ever-growing and ever-changing field and will continue to grow in significance as the U.S. Supreme Court devotes more and more of its docket to employment related cases each year. Hopefully, the day will arrive that lessens the number of claims, or provides us with a solution that creates a system for their resolution that is less costly, more expeditious and less adversarial.