State and federal laws impose a duty on employers to respect employees’ rights and provide them with certain benefits. However, because employment discrimination claims and other employment disputes often involve a mix of state and federal claims, most employment cases are filed in federal court. According to a recent report that looks at the past three years of employment litigation across all United States District Courts in the county, nearly six percent of all claims were filed in the Southern District of New York.

By understanding recent trends in employment law, both employees and employment lawyers can gain a more robust understanding of the types of claims being filed and what claims have the best chance of success. This can inform litigants' strategy in a number of ways, including forum and claim selection. In this piece, we will discuss the most common employment lawsuits in the Southern District of New York, as well as which companies are most frequently named as defendants.

Workers who believe that their employer has violated federal law may be entitled to financial compensation, which may include back pay, front pay, emotional distress, out-of-pocket expenses, and punitive damages. In some cases, the court will give a successful employee who was wrongfully terminated the option of getting their job back. Those interested in learning more about pursuing an employment claim should reach out to an employment discrimination attorney for assistance.

The Southern District of New York Sees More Employment Discrimination Cases Than Anywhere Else in the Country

The Southern District of New York encompasses eight counties of New York State, including New York County (Manhattan), Bronx County, Westchester County, Putnam County, Rockland County, Orange County, Dutchess County, and Sullivan County.

Not surprisingly, with over 3 million residents living and working within the SDNY, it is no surprise that it is a hotbed of employment litigation. For example, according to a 2023 Employment Litigation Report by Lex Machina, between 2020 and 2022, 20,994 employment cases were filed in federal district courts. The single largest number of employment cases filed in any district was in the Southern District of New York, which handled 3,745 cases.

What Are the Most Common Employment Law Claims in the Southern District of New York?

Federal law provides workers with a range of protections, from keeping discrimination out of the workplace to ensuring fair wages between workers of similar skill and ability. The idea behind employment laws is to ensure a safe working environment that provides for fair compensation. According to the 2023 Employment Litigation Report by Lex Machina, the most common employment law claims between 2022 and 2022 were:

Title VII Discrimination

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. While there are other protected traits that employers cannot base an employment decision on, they are protected by other federal laws.

Title VII discrimination claims were among the most common employment cases filed between 2020 and 2022, with discrimination based on race, color, sex and gender being the most frequently filed claim. For example, there were 2,022 race discrimination cases filed between 2022 and 2023 and 2,005 sex/gender discrimination claims filed during that same period.

Hostile Work Environment

A hostile work environment (“HWE”) claim technically falls under Title VII; however, because these claims are different from many other sex discrimination claims, they are often considered separately. In a hostile work environment claim, the worker is claiming that the employer created or allowed a work environment that was so hostile to the worker that it was equivalent to discrimination. To prove an HWE claim, the plaintiff must show that a “reasonable person” would find the work environment hostile and that the plaintiff subjectively perceived the environment as hostile

Hostile work environment claims were also very common, according to the 2023 Lex Machina Employment Litigation Report. For example, there were 1,931 HWE claims filed between 2020 and 2022 alone.

Retaliation

Federal employment laws prohibit employers from punishing job applicants or employees for asserting their rights to be free from employment discrimination. These claims are referred to as retaliation claims. For example, employers cannot initiate any adverse employment actions based on a worker engaging in any of the following protected activities:

• Filing or participating as a witness in an employment case, investigation, or lawsuit;
• Discussing any concerns of discrimination with a supervisor or manager;
• Answering questions during an investigation into an employer’s alleged harassment;
• Refusing to follow orders that would result in discrimination against another employee;
• Resisting sexual advances;
• Intervening to protect others from unlawful employment practices;
• Requesting a disability or religious accommodation;
• Discussing salaries with co-workers or asking management about other workers’ salaries to uncover potentially discriminatory wages.

Cases alleging unlawful employment retaliation were the single most common type of case filed between 2020 and 2022, with approximately 4,170 cases raising a retaliation claim.

What Companies Are Sued the Most for Employment Violations?

All employers are held to the same standard when it comes to honoring workers’ rights. However, some companies tend to be sued by their workers more than others. Below are the most common employer-defendants in employment cases filed between 2020 and 2022.

Walmart Inc.

The retail behemoth Walmart employs over 2.1 million people, generating over $611 billion in annual revenue. On that basis alone, it’s no surprise that Walmart employment lawsuits topped the list in terms of the number of claims filed by employees. Between 2020 and 2022, more than 678 employees filed employment lawsuits against Walmart Inc. and Walmart Associates, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores East, LP.

United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service, or UPS as the company is more commonly referred to, has 500,000 workers and brings in over $100 billion in revenue each year. During the period between 2020 and 2023, there were 297 UPS employment lawsuits.

Amazon Services LLC

Online retail giant Amazon Services LLC faced a significant number of employment law claims as well. With warehouses all over the country and a workforce of over 1.5 million, Amazon faced 207 employment claims.

Lowe’s Home Centers

Lowes is a big-box retailer that carries a wide range of home improvement and construction supplies. The company is also a major employer in many states, employing more than 307,000 people. Lowes is much smaller than many other companies on this list, making the fact that there were 190 Lowe’s employment lawsuits between these three years quite significant.

Of course, larger companies have more employees and, therefore, are more likely to appear on the list of the most sued employers. However, larger companies also have the most incentive to push the limit when it comes to borderline employment practices because they have the most to gain (or lose). That said, this list shouldn’t be read to mean that these companies commit the most employment violations; only that these companies were sued the most by their employees.

Those who have experienced employment discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as those who have been retaliated against for bringing allegations to light, can pursue legal action against their employer. However, it is important to recognize that employers rarely accept responsibility and go to great lengths to avoid being found liable. Thus, to ensure claims are given the attention they deserve, it is recommended to work with an experienced SDNY employment lawyer.