Companies being sued over layoffs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The United States is experiencing an uptick in the number of employee lawsuits as companies layoff hundreds of thousands of workers, legal observers say.

Many of the lawsuits claim that workers were unfairly or improperly dismissed.

Among companies being sued are Lehman Brothers, which is accused of not giving workers the required 60 days' pay before their jobs were cut, and Dell Inc. is being sued over allegations of age and sex discrimination.

The New York Times reported that job-related discrimination complaints to the federal government, which generally precede civil actions, increased more than 15 percent last year on top of a smaller increase in 2007, after falling for years.

Lawyers say they expect the number of cases to increase even more his year. The U.S. economy has lost more than 2.6 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, The Wall Street Journal said.

Lawrence Lorber, an employment lawyer in Washington, told the Times laid off workers often sue if they cannot find a new job.

"When there is no job, there is no safety valve," he said, "so people who have issues and then lose their jobs or have some adverse employment action taken, are now much more willing to file their suits."