Social Framework Evidence in Employment Discrimination Cases
I’ve just read a fascinating new article by Paul Secunda and Melissa Hart on the use of expert social science testimony in employment discrimination cases. They report on the conflict, both in the courtroom and in the academy, over the use of so-called “social framework” evidence, which speaks to the tendency of certain workplace policies and practices to promote (or reduce) the impact of stereotyping and bias. The debate echoes debates elsewhere in the law over the use of science that cannot definitively establish causation, but can only deal in likelihoods or relative increases in risk. I am reminded of a case I use in teaching the insanity defense, United States v. Lyons, 731 F.2d 243 (5th Cir. 1984), in which the Fifth Circuit bemoans the inability of psychologists to state with certainty whether a crime resulted from a defendant’s inability to control himself.
Entitled “A Matter of Context: Social Framework Evidence in Employment Discrimination Class Actions,” the full Secunda-Hart article is available here on SSRN. You can read the abstract after the break.