LITIGATION
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys representing a national electronics retailer to assess and testify about class action claims of race, ethnic and gender based discrimination in hiring, initial assignment, compensation and promotions. Our economists effectively combined external vendor based applicant tracking data and within company information regarding career paths in order to accurately assess the claims based upon groups of similarly situated employees.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys representing a large national production and retail company to analyze nationwide class action claims of race, ethnic and gender based discrimination in hiring, promotions, evaluations, testing and terminations. Our economists managed all aspects of company, vendor and labor market data to provide timely analyses on each of these topics.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys representing plaintiffs in claims of discrimination in compensation among officers with a California law enforcement agency. A Welch economist testified that a properly estimated model of compensation showed statistically significant differences in pay to the detriment of protected group members.
Welch Consulting was retained by the EEOC to analyze and testify about a matter involving discrimination in layoffs and compensation among partners with a nationally recognized law firm. Our economists analyzed the available data and showed that older partners were statistically more likely than expected to be terminated or offered a reduced compensation package.
Welch Consulting was retained by counsel for a national production and retail company to analyze and testify about nationwide class wage and hour claims of failure to pay overtime. Our economist compiled data from different payroll and personnel file systems in order to accurately develop measures of overtime compensation under applicable California and federal laws.
Welch Consulting was retained by a large national home improvement retailer to study time clock and payroll data to ascertain the degree to which overtime compensation was paid in Nevada locations and whether or not statistical evidence of an unwritten policy forbidding payment of overtime existed. Our economist reported that for non-exempt employees a large fraction of pay periods showed overtime compensation and that no statistical pattern existed.
Welch Consulting was retained by a national delivery company to analyze and testify about nationwide class action claims of interrupted breaks and off-the-clock work. Our economists integrated a large complex array of timekeeping data with delivery/pickup tracking data to quantify the extent to which breaks were interrupted. Our analysis of the data showed that interrupted breaks were relatively rare events and largely concentrated among a small number of employees.
Welch Consulting was retained by counsel for a nationwide telecommunications service provider to conduct studies and testify regarding class action claims of discrimination against women and minorities in promotions to manager positions and compensation claims among managers. Employing a statistical model, our economists showed, statistically, that the named class member on promotions was not representative of the class and that no pattern of adverse impact existed across business units.
Welch Consulting was engaged by a nationwide package delivery company to analyze and testify about nationwide class action claims of discrimination in promotions among managers with protected group status. Welch economists showed that no statistical pattern existed which was common across business units.
Welch Consulting was retained by counsel for a major steel producer in a class action involving a claim of discrimination based on race in promotions. Our economist showed that the experiences of the named plaintiffs were not representative of the class they sought to represent, and that there was no statistical evidence of discrimination based on race in promotions.
Welch Consulting was hired by attorneys for a major computer hardware producer to examine claims of discrimination based on race in promotions and compensation, including bonuses and stock options. Our economist showed that the named plaintiffs actually fared better than non-protected employees, and that there was no statistical evidence of discrimination in either promotions or compensation.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys for large national food processing company to provide expert testimony regarding economic damages relating to the amount of time spent “donning and doffing.” Our economist combined employment history and payroll data with information about where in a processing line an employee was stationed in order to accurately calculate the extent to which an employee’s donning and doffing time was under compensated.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys representing a national accounting firm to analyze and testify about claims of misclassification of exempt employees. Our expert combined employment history and payroll information, with information tracking hours worked in order to estimate time worked in excess of forty hours a week.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys representing a national retailer in claims that employee bonus payments reflected improper deductions and therefore needed to be recalculated. Our economists estimated the payments after including the additional components to ascertain the difference in bonus that could be compensated. These recalculations had additional implications for which stores were eligible to provide bonuses and for the regular rate of pay at which hourly employees were compensated for overtime. Our expert provided adjusted estimates of exposure based upon these issues as well.
Welch Consulting economists were retained by attorneys representing a California city to calculate economic damages and testify to the appropriate mitigation effort in a case involving a constructive discharge claim against a fire department. Our expert developed damage estimates that incorporated proper offsets and different pension alternatives with meaningful expectations regarding mitigation and subsequent reemployment.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys for plaintiffs in a wrongful termination matter involving a national homebuilder. Our expert generated estimates of and testified about plaintiff’s economic loss under a number of reemployment and rebound alternatives after having taken account of a complex compensation program, including options to purchase new homes at discounted prices, mitigation efforts and reemployment alternatives.
Welch Consulting economists were retained by attorneys representing a California city police department to estimate lost earnings for a gang member who was injured during a police action. Our economist made use of unique data sources for earnings potential and work life estimates and generated earnings loss estimates under several training and employment alternatives.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys representing a national technology firm in a class action matter alleging age discrimination in reduction in force actions. Welch Consulting economists developed a statistical model of career path on which employees could be plotted. Our economists showed that employees selected for layoff were off-track (below the typical path) and that the selections were not associated with age. Employees who were on-track, or above what was typical, were not selected for layoff, regardless of their age.
Welch Consulting was retained by California law enforcement agency to assess claims of racial profiling in traffic stops, searches and arrests. Welch Consulting economists worked to accurately model the underlying processes at issue and found that, once the statistical approach accounted for all theoretically relevant factors, there was no statistical evidence of racial profiling.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys representing a large nationwide electronics retail company in a California class action where managers were allegedly misclassified as exempt. Among the claims was that constrained labor budget allocations inhibited managers from hiring enough hourly employees and, as a result managers were forced to perform non-exempt work. Our economists analyzed labor budget allocations statistically and found the allocations to be flexible to the business environment and responsive in large measure to the volume of store business.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys for medical doctor in a Medicare auditing case. A medical doctor was audited and the auditing agency employed a flawed sampling approach to the review. Our economist analyzed the available data, submitted a report and testified regarding the size of the statistical sample used in the audit and the appropriateness of the sampling methodology.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys for plaintiff in order to develop a sampling strategy for the purposes of reviewing personnel files of a national clothing and apparel retail chain’s California stores. Our economist was also asked to develop a sample strategy for review and coding of security video to ascertain when employees leave stores for breaks.
Welch Consulting was retained by counsel for a large national insurance company to review the claims history of homeowners’ policies in five metropolitan areas. Plaintiffs alleged that use of credit scores to evaluate applications for homeowners’ policies was discriminatory. In a study that took into account other factors used in underwriting, our economist found a strong and statistically significant correlation between the credit score and claim activity. This relationship was observed for every type of coverage in each of the areas studied.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys for large national insurance company in a class action involving redlining in homeowners insurance in St. Louis. Our analysis showed that the geographic distribution of policies was explained by income, wealth, whether the home had a mortgage, and home value. The data provided no evidence that homeowners in minority neighborhoods were less likely to have insurance once these factors were taken into account.
Welch Consulting was retained by attorneys for a national bank under investigation by the US Department of Justice for possible discrimination and redlining in mortgage lending claims. Our economists analyzed loan level data to determine whether minorities were less likely to be approved for loans than similarly qualified whites. The analysis showed that racial differences in approval rates were explained by higher frequency of poor credit histories among minority applicants.
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