Can a class action be brought against an employer for discriminatory hiring practices?
Employment discrimination cases lend themselves to class action treatment when an alleged unlawful employment practice affects more employees or applicants than the one or ones who decide to go to court. However, a victim of one type of discrimination is not automatically entitled to challenge all unequal employment practices followed by the employer being sued. Can the EEOC bring a lawsuit? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is empowered to bring pattern or practice suits where it finds evidence of systemic discrimination in violation of Title VII, and it can bring class action suits on behalf of discriminated-against individuals. In either case, the EEOC does not have to comply with the procedural rules for class action suits, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, but class actions are the exception rather than the rule, and a class is only certified after rigorous analysis. Separate rules for class action suits apply to the Equal Pay Act and the Age Discrimination in Employm
