A common issue in employment discrimination cases--in all litigation, really--is what value should be placed on the plaintiff's claim.

Obviously, opposing counsel approach that question from competing perspectives. But, for the most part, they use the same method of determination: reviewing information on jury awards and settlement agreements in similar prior cases.

While attorneys are usually able to draw on their and their partners' experience in previous cases, access to collected verdict and settlement data is beneficial, if not essential. Bloomberg BNA's enhanced Employment Discrimination Verdicts & Settlements Navigator can help.

With BBNA's Verdicts & Settlements Navigator, plaintiffs' and management counsel have access to information on the latest significant case settlements and jury verdicts, as well as a robust database of past verdict and settlement news going back to 1996.

For example, attorneys reviewing the most recent updates to the Verdicts & Settlements Navigator will have learned that:

• A federal jury in Iowa awarded $240 million to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of 32 mentally disabled turkey processing plant workers for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the court subsequently reduced the total award to $1.6 million).

• Wet Seal and a group of store managers agreed to settle for $7.5 million claims that the company discriminates against African Americans in pay, promotions, and other terms of employment.

• A Florida federal jury awarded more than $20 million to female telemarketers who allegedly were subjected to unwelcome groping and sexual propositions by their bosses (the recovery amount was later limited for those women who did not assert claims under state law).

• A federal jury in Tennessee returned a $1.5 million verdict in an EEOC lawsuit alleging that three female workers were sexually harassed by a male supervisor, and that the women and a male co-worker were fired when they complained about the harassment.

More information on  BBNA's Employment Discrimination Verdicts & Settlements Navigator, including access to a free seven-day trial as part of the Labor &  Employment Law Resource Center, can be found at http://www.bna.com/labor-employment-law-resource-center-p5932/.