A Law Suit IS Bad for Your Career

I am a huge fan of legal blogs. Mostly because, since law school, I find that I have developed law humor. Which is ok but I recognize doesn't appeal to everyone. My boyfriend has Statistician humor. Yep, I don't get it either!

But the legal blogs I frequent, and other blogs that are career oriented, also report an interesting trend within the professional world, and reveal how bad of an idea it is to sue your boss/employer. Especially for discrimination.

It wasn't always this way. Law suits used to be ways to effectuate effectual change. Except when it became obvious that they didn't work and employers just did the minimum to be sure they weren't sued, and stopped talking to their employees about things that could get them sued.

To fully understand, you must have some background. In 1989, Ann Hopkins, a senior manager at Price Waterhouse, sued her employer for gender discrimination because she was denied partnership in 1982 and subsequent years. She based her claim on comments and actions by her employer. This case was a big deal for me in law school. She won. I am not sure what she won, but she won. It was validation that women have rights in the workplace, even the professional discretionary workplace.

Fastforward a week or so in my employment discrimination class. I read about a black male who sued his law firm in more recent times (2002 I think?) and never got a job in the industry again. Now he's a writer. I think. Maybe it's not such a good idea.

Maybe it was ok to sue in 1989, but it is not ok now. And the problem isn't the suit; it is how a suit is perceived within the community. A law suit is very expensive. A law suit is very time consuming. A law suit sweeps dirt from under the rug. It is not pretty, and it is not good for a company. Would you want an employee who sued their last employer? Companies feel they could be next!

Recent cases, such as a sexual discrimination case based on sexual orientatioin that settled in 2007, remind me just how widely disseminated information about employees who speak out about discrimination is, and just how much of a scarlet letter a suit becomes.

I honestly don't know how to combat problems of discrimination. And, as I witness them every day in my employment, I don't think that the law is all that well situated to handle it. For professionals, a law suit can be the end of your career. I suggest using the channels for discirmination provided by your employer internally. And finding someone you can have frank honest discussion with. They don't have to look like you. Suing your employer should be the option of last, final, and penultimate resort.