According to the latest court statistics provided recently by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO), the number of employment-related lawsuits filed in federal court during fiscal year (FY) 2018 increased by 2.2% last year, following a 2.6% decline from the year before. Overall, the number of civil lawsuits under all categories rose by nearly 6% above FY 2017.
Employment-related lawsuits made up 10.9% of all civil actions filed in FY 2018, a percentage consistent with previous years. Of particular note, lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) continued to increase, reaching an all-time high. In contrast, lawsuits filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) declined slightly.
As has been the case for the last several years, the AO has not provided any data on class action litigation as the agency continues to search for a way to more accurately report that data.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.