Rights on Trial: How Workplace Discrimination Law Perpetuates Inequality

Gerry Handley endured years of severe race-based harassment at work, including racist jokes, KKK signs in his work area, and offensive questions from coworkers. He filed a complaint with substantial documentation and coworker support, settling for $50,000 and regaining his job. However, legal fees consumed much of his settlement, workplace tensions persisted, and he was laid off a year later due to company downsizing. His case illustrates the significant burdens plaintiffs face in civil rights litigation today. While American companies now maintain antidiscrimination policies and laws protect marginalized groups, Ellen Berrey, Robert L. Nelson, and Laura Beth Nielsen demonstrate that this legal framework falls short in practice. Litigation's adversarial nature imposes substantial personal and financial costs on plaintiffs, often leaving them feeling defeated regardless of case outcome. Employers also express dissatisfaction, viewing some cases as frivolous. Even when plaintiffs prevail, the underlying conditions that prompted the lawsuit typically remain unchanged. The authors argue that contemporary workplace discrimination law paradoxically reinforces the hierarchies it was designed to eliminate. Based on interviews with plaintiffs, attorneys, and defendant representatives, along with original national case data, the book examines how the legal system functions in practice.