Previous: I. Filing a Discriminiation or Wrongful Discharge Claim
These are the typical stages of a federal lawsuit:
- The Plaintiff files a COMPLAINT, setting out the facts and legal theories on which the case is based.
- The Defendant files either an ANSWER to the Complaint, or files a MOTION TO DISMISS, arguing that the case fails to complain about something, which the law recognizes.
- If the Defendant files a Motion to Dismiss, the Court must first rule in Plaintiff’s favor for the case to progress any further. If the Defendant files an Answer, the Court sets up a schedule for PRE-TRIAL DISCOVERY.
- Pre-trial discovery means that the parties are given a period of time in which to try to develop evidence to support their cases. Three-to-five months is a typical discovery period in federal lawsuits. During pre-trial discovery, each party may require the other to answer written INTERROGATORIES – which require a party to answer written questions under oath. Each party may also require the other party to produce all documents, which might help a party prove its case. In addition, each party may take a DEPOSITION of every potential witness who might have knowledge about something relevant to the case.
- Depositions are usually the most costly and longest part of pre-trial discovery. A deposition means that each party may require anyone they choose to come to the attorney’s office and answer questions under oath about what they know about the case. The party taking the deposition must hire a qualified, licensed court reporter to attend the deposition and transcribe everything said. Generally, that party must then purchase the transcript of the deposition from the court reporter. Court reporters charge both for attending the deposition and for the transcript. A transcript of a full-day deposition generally costs about $1000. Thus, if the party takes five depositions in a case, he or she will generally spend about $5000 for court reporters. An attorney is not permitted to pay that expense – or any expense of litigation – on behalf of a client. Depositions in federal court employment cases usually last most of one day, but can sometimes last 2-3 days each.
- After pre-trial discovery is completed, the employer will usually make a motion for SUMMARY JUDGMENT. Summary judgment is an increasingly common method of disposing of federal lawsuits, especially since federal judges have very heavy caseloads. You might think of summary judgment as trying the case on paper. Each side will set out in writing its arguments, along with excerpts from the deposition transcripts, interrogatory answers, and documents produced during discovery in an attempt to persuade the Court of their position. If the employer’s motion for summary judgment is denied, the case will be set for trial. If it is granted, the case is over and the only remedy is to file an APPEAL to a higher court. In recent years, a higher and higher percentage of cases are being dismissed on summary judgment, where the Court believes that no reasonable group of jurors could decide the case in favor of the employee, so there is no need for a trial. Some employment lawyers explain summary judgment like this: Our case must pass an “exam” before it will be allowed to go on to the next stage- a trial. If our case fails the “exam”, it will end without even a trial and the only remedy is the expensive and slow route of an appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, one step below the U.S. Supreme Court.
