Labor Economics

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Gerlib et al. v. R. R. Donnelley and Sons

• An ADEA class action with 343 plaintiffs was filed in Chicago after one of the largest printing plants in the U.S. closed in 1993. Spectrum rebutted the plaintiffs' expert who claimed an age bias in transferring workers to other locations. We faulted the expert for analyzing employees transferred instead of job offers, not accounting for the number of applications submitted and using incorrect statistical methods. A federal jury returned a verdict for the defense. Report by Dr. McCollister -- Report by Dr. Bronars

Various Plaintiffs v. Insurance Services Organization

• Expert for the defendant in an age discrimination case involving layoffs. Analyzed a large computerized personnel database using the logit model to measure the impacts of multiple factors in determining the probability of layoffs during a reduction in force.

Jackson et al. v. Delaney Development et al.

• Analyzed the claims of a group of contract employees that they did not receive pay and benefits comparable to regular employees. Showed that, in fact, contract employee total compensation was higher and that, considering the tax and other advantages of self-employment, these employees as a class fared far better than traditional employees.

Wire Rope Company of America Bankruptcy

• Spectrum was retained by the Company to compare the cost of living adjusted wages and benefits received by their union employees to those of comparably situated workers regionally, nationally, and wages and benefits paid by its major competitors. Based on our analysis, the court adjusted the terms of the contract.