Report: EPL Jury Awards Up 18%

The national compensatory jury-award median for employment-practice liability (EPL) cases, which includes discrimination and wrongful termination claims, rose 18 percent in 2003 to $250,000; while the compensatory award median for discrimination cases, including those involving age, race, disability or sex discrimination, fell 2 percent to $232,322.

According to a report by Hasham, Pa.-based
Jury Verdict Research (JVR), the median jury award for employment-practice cases has increased the last two years. What’s more, age discrimination and disability discrimination plaintiffs received the most compensation from juries over the seven-year period studied.

The report, Employment Practice Liability: Jury Award Trends and Statistics—2004 Edition, provides jury-verdict trends for constructive discharge, hostile work environment, retaliation, sexual harassment and wrongful termination, and includes an analysis of plaintiff recovery trends—the ratio of plaintiff verdicts to total verdicts. The report also contains trends in federal district court and state court awards, as well as summaries of top awards in employment-practice liability.

JVR said it maintains the only nationwide database of more than 239,000 plaintiff and defense verdicts, and settlements resulting from personal injury claims.