Effects and the Psychological Costs Associated with the Lawsuit - Essay Example

One should therefore have all the facts right and know that a court may rule for or against him or her (Duncan & Schroeder, 2007). It is also important to note that, a court can rule in one’s favor but cannot collect the winnings for a person. This essay will discuss various factors regarding a dismissed employee who claims that she was treated unfairly by being made to work overtime with no extra pay. The employee was a salaried exempt manager and is seeking $ 18,000 in unpaid overtime. This paper will discuss her probability of winning or losing and the case. The paper will also determine the amount of money that the company may win or lose if the case goes to court, estimate the lawyers’ fees, amount of time lost by company personnel, list two unique factors to this scenario, consider long-term effects and the psychological costs associated with this lawsuit.

The probability of this dismissed employee winning the case is very low. The employee is highly likely to lose the case because of the status of her employment. The employee was a salaried exempt department manager. The reason why she is likely to lose the case is that salaried exempt employees are those who do not get paid for working overtime, even when they work a lot more than the regular hours (Duncan & Schroeder, 2007). With salary-exempt employees whose jobs are 40 hours a week, they may be expected to work up to 168 hours a week without being paid extra for the job they have done.

She is therefore unlikely to win the case because she is not entitled to overtime in the first place. The terms and conditions of a salaried exempt employee do not entitle him or her to overtime payments. She, therefore, has no right to demand overtime from her employer (Abrams, 2000). If the case goes to court, the company is less likely to lose any money. This is because the company was not wrong by not paying the employee her overtime. After all, she is not entitled to overtime, being a salaried exempt employee (Abrams, 2000).

Even though it is difficult to say with certainty the costs of lawsuits, if the company loses the lawsuit, it is likely to pay the employee any amount from $ 500,000 to $ 1,000,000, depending on the court, the amount of time taken to solve the lawsuit and the expenses incurred by the employee when filing the lawsuit. However, since the company is unlikely to lose the case, it is more likely to win some money from the employee. If the company wins the case, the employee will have to pay for the costs of the company’s lawyers and other litigation fees (Duncan & Schroeder, 2007).

Lawyers’ fees in lawsuits are very expensive. Most defense lawyers are known to charge their clients on an hourly basis. This ranges from $ 100 to $ 350. The employee and the company may also be charged a flat rate of about $ 5,000 if the case does not take a long time, i.e. less than 15 hours with good lawyers (Duncan & Schroeder, 2007). Litigation fees may amount to $ 50,000 or more because there are many charges involved in such a case. These include complaint filing fees which will be paid by both parties, motion filing fees, deposition fees, copies, experts, and appeals if necessary (Abrams, 2000).

The amount of time lost by the company personnel will depend on the professionalism and experience of the company’s lawyers. If the company hires good lawyers, the case can take a very short time of up to 15 hours because the lawyers are conversant with all the necessary steps to prepare and file a defense (Duncan & Schroeder, 2007).