Workplace law compliance has been a driver in organizations seeking accountable means of training. Corporate litigation cases are increasing at an alarming rate. Workplace related claims, charges and lawsuits increased at all levels from 1991. This trend is increasing at an alarming rate. Recent surveys indicated that over 80% of US corporations have had litigation lawsuits with former employees. Consider the following market drivers:

• Corporate, association, government, and other organizational budgets rarely include adequate defense amounts against employee litigation. Should a suit arise, a company is often faced with redirecting budget dollars for defense instead of their original intent.
• The average jury award for wrongful termination claims is $1,800,000 and one-fifth of jury awards now top the $1,000,000 mark. ¹
• The total amount employers pay out as a result of harassment and discrimination claims has doubled in the last five years.²
• The amount of EEOC claims rose again in 2001 in line with the number of lawsuits that rise during an economic downturn.³
• The following hard and soft costs, their average dollar and time amounts incurred by an organization to defend itself against a single claim that arose in the employment law area.
• Defense Hard costs
• Attorney fees if case goes to trial: $250,000
• Attorney fees if case settles prior to trial: $95,000
• Manager time expended in the claim process: 40 hours
• Employee time expended in the claim process: 40 hours
• Employee time spent investigating the claim: 60 hours
• Employee time spent preparing for trial: 60 hours
• Range of settlement costs or jury awards: $150,000 to $250,000+
• Defense Soft Costs
• Impact of the workforce in terms of distraction and reduced morale
• Impact in the cost of insurance if company is covered and experiences losses
• Impact of negative publicity (and stock price if publicly traded)
• Impact on attracting the best employees given the negative publicity
• Employment litigation and protective insurance premiums rose 50% in 2001 and can expect an increase of 25% in the upcoming year.⁴

This potential financial loss and disruptive nature of workplace compliance lawsuits can and do have a numbing effect on the workplace. Employee morale and individual productivity is diminished and usually takes months even years to fully recover.

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