Fisher Phillips Finds 43% Jump in COVID-19 Workplace Claims

ATLANTA, (July 6, 2020) – Fisher Phillips, a national workplace law firm representing employers, has found an explosion of COVID-19-related workplace claims in June and has identified key areas where employers may be vulnerable to litigation stemming from the pandemic. Using data collected by Fisher Phillips’ COVID-19 Employment Litigation Tracker, the firm found that of the 283 COVID-19-related lawsuits filed in federal and state courts, 122 – or 43% – were filed in the month of June. Fisher Phillips has published a full report on the findings which can be found here.

In addition to the sharp rise in workplace claims, Fisher Phillips found the following key trends that employers should watch:

• 41 class actions have been filed, with a 65% increase in the month of June.
• The two most common types of workplace class action claims include:
  • Unsafe working conditions
  • Wage and hour concerns

• The top five classifications of COVID-19-related claims are:
  • Employment discrimination
  • Work-from-home/Employee leave
  • Retaliation
  • Unsafe working conditions/Lack of PPE
  • Wage and Hour

• California leads in the number of overall COVID-19 workplace lawsuits filed. The top five states in the U.S. include:
  • California
  • Florida
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Texas

• California and Florida lead in the number of COVID-19 class action workplace lawsuits filed.

Fisher Phillips launched its COVID-19 Employment Litigation Tracker to help clients and the public track and prepare for the forthcoming wave of litigation. The tool provides the firm’s clients and the public the information they need to anticipate what types of COVID-19 lawsuits are being filed, where they are being filed, and how best to avoid or defend them. Fisher Phillips’ tracker is the most comprehensive list of vetted labor and employment-litigation filings. It is updated daily and captures state and federal cases and is built on a proprietary system which automatically identifies the COVID-19-related employment cases based on case summary key words.

Evan Shenkman, Fisher Phillips’ Senior Director of Knowledge Management says: “By launching and leveraging our COVID-19 Employment Litigation Tracker, we are now able to identify key litigation trends for employers, including potential vulnerabilities that can be proactively addressed before they turn into costly lawsuits. The power of data analytics in law cannot be overstated, and we are pleased to offer employers this best-in-class resource to help protect their businesses against the predicted wave of COVID-19 litigation that is already knocking at their doors.”

More information about COVID-19-related litigation being filed across the country, can be found on Fisher Phillips’ COVID-19 Employment Litigation Tracker. The firm’s COVID-19 Employment Litigation and Class & Collective Actions section also has a listing of our litigation-related alerts and team members handling these types of cases.