Lex Machina 2026 Employment Litigation Report: Federal Discrimination and Disability Accommodation Lawsuits Surge

New analysis also reveals sharp rise in FMLA claims, highest annual pro se filings since 2016, and over $2 billion in court-approved employment damage awards between 2023 and 2025.

San Jose, CA — March 10, 2026 — LexisNexis^® Legal & Professional today announced the release of the Lex Machina® 2026 Employment Litigation Report, which provides a highly detailed analysis of trends in federal employment lawsuits since 2016. Exclusive insights from the report provide law offices with actionable, data-driven insights to better assess risk, strategy, and outcomes in modern workplace disputes.

Key findings from the report include: 

• Surge in disability accommodation cases: Employment cases involving federal claims that employers failed to provide reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities have increased sharply. In 2025, plaintiffs filed 6,796 such cases, representing a single-year record and a year-to-year increase of about 42 percent. In addition to long-term health issues associated with Covid-19, recent large damage awards in disability accommodation lawsuits have likely encouraged further filings. 
• Heightened focus on discrimination issues: Since 2022, claims under federal laws that prohibit adverse employment actions or unwelcome conduct against individuals in protected classes, or against employees who engaged in legally protected activity, have risen above pre-COVID averages. The year 2025 marked the first time that plaintiffs filed more than 20,000 federal discrimination lawsuits, likely tied in part to developments in case law that reinforced certain routes of recovery for employment-discrimination plaintiffs. 
• Increasing proportion of pro se plaintiffs: The proportion of federal employment lawsuits with unrepresented plaintiffs grew each year from 2021 through 2025, rising nearly 3 percentage points last year alone. In 2025, more than 16 percent of federal employment lawsuits were filed by individual plaintiffs without legal representation, from under 10 percent in 2021. The consequences can be severe: From 2023 through 2025, pro se employment plaintiffs lost at a ratio of greater than 40:1 in cases decided on the merits.

“The Lex Machina Employment Report 2026 is a rich report with interesting data and insights on trends and developments in employment related claims and lawsuits,” said Daniel A. Cotter, partner with Aronberg Goldgehn Davis & Garmisa. “The information related to disability accommodations cases growing is something that the report had identified to me to monitor closely.”

“The Employment Litigation Report reveals a rapidly shifting liability risk profile for employers in this decade,” said Eric Wright, senior vice president for Lex Machina at LexisNexis. “From 2023 to 2025, employee claims on median took 1,021 days – that’s nearly three years – to reach trial, and courts approved nearly $2 billion in settlement awards for employment-related class actions despite reductions in FLSA claims. These findings give practitioners concrete benchmarks for assessing risk, timing, and potential exposure in modern workplace disputes.”

To request a copy of the report, visit LexisNexis.com/LexMachina.

The Lex Machina® Legal Analytics® platform equips litigation professionals to win more cases and generate business. From precise timing metrics that inform legal budgeting to trend data on top law firms and leading judges, Lex Machina uniquely supplements traditional legal research and experience with customized, data-backed insights. These insights help lawyers identify and pursue new matters, navigate motion and trial strategies, and negotiate smarter settlements, ultimately giving firms a competitive edge in litigation.

About LexisNexis^® Legal & Professional

LexisNexis^® Legal & Professional provides AI-powered legal, regulatory, business information, analytics and workflows that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis^® and Nexis^® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,900 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

About Lex Machina

Lex Machina® fundamentally changes how companies and law firms compete in the business and practice of law. The company provides strategic insights on judges, lawyers, law firms, parties, and other critical information across 22 federal practice areas and a rapidly growing number of state courts. Lex Machina allows law firms and companies to anticipate the behaviors and outcomes that different legal strategies will produce, enabling them to win cases and close business.

Lex Machina was named Winner of the “Overall LegalTech Data Solution Provider of the Year” LegalTech Breakthrough Award 2025, “Best Data Analytics & Insight Solution” 2025 CODiE Award, one of Forbes’ Best Workplaces in the Bay Area in 2024, Winner of the “Media Excellence Award” for Analytics/Big Data 2024, “Great Places to Work” (2023-2024), one of “Legal Tech’s Most Promising Solution Providers” (CIO Review Awards 2022), “Greater Bay Area Top Workplaces 2022” (The San Francisco Chronicle Top Workplaces in the Bay Area 2022), “Legal Tech Company of the Year 2021″ (CIO Review, 2021), “2021 Legal Technology Trailblazer” (National Law Journal Trailblazer Awards, 2021), and Winner of the “Media Excellence” Award for Analytics/Big Data (13th Annual Media Excellence Award, 2021). Based in Silicon Valley, Lex Machina is part of LexisNexis, a leading global provider of legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics. For more information, please visit www.lexmachina.com.

Eric Wright is senior vice president for Lex Machina and Print at LexisNexis and serves as CEO of LexisNexis Canada.

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