Last week, we reviewed the Supreme Court’s docket in two new areas of law: employment on the civil side and cases involving sexual offenses on the criminal side.  This week, we’re taking a deeper look at both areas of law.

In employment law, the Court’s docket has been evenly split between cases won by the employer and the employee below – sixteen of each.  The Court has reversed employers’ wins from the Appellate Court at a rate noticeably higher than its overall reversal rate: 68.75%.  Only five employer wins have been affirmed since 1990 – one each in 1990, 1997, 2005, 2006 and 2009.

On the other hand, the Court reversed employers’ wins twice in 1990, once each in 1991, 1992, 2002, 2007 and 2008, and twice in 2009 and 2013.

The Court’s record with employee wins from the Appellate Court is a mirror image of its handling of employer wins.  Since 1990, the Court has reversed only 31.25% of cases won by employees below.  The Court affirmed one employee win in 1990 and 1991, two in 1992, three in 1996, one in 1999, two in 2001 and one in 2002.

The Court reversed one employee win in 1994, one in 2002, two in 2005 and one in 2014.

Since 1990, the Court has reversed in whole or in part in 53.13% of its employment law cases.  The Court reversed in half of its cases between 1990 and 1995.  The Court affirmed all five employment law cases it heard between 1996 and 2000.  The Court reversed in 62.5% of its cases between 2001 and 2005, and two-thirds of the time between 2006 and 2010.  Since that time, the Court has decided only three employment law cases, reversing completely in all three.

Join us back here tomorrow as we review the Court’s criminal decisions involving sexual offenses.

Image courtesy of Flickr by AirGuy1988 (no changes).