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• LOUIS LANIER: RECENT CASES
Thompson, et al., v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc.
This case began as a class action but was denied class certification, resulting in a group of 79 African American plaintiffs who are current or retired employees of the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (NGSS) shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi (a.k.a., the Ingalls Shipyard). This shipyard builds ships for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, and is the largest employer on the Gulf Coast. The 79 plaintiffs are now individually suing NGSS alleging systemic patterns of racially-biased personnel decisions, including pay and promotion opportunities, as well as a hostile work environment.
Econ One was retained by The Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, to provide expert analysis regarding liability and back pay damages. Dr. Louis Lanier analyzed 14 years of personnel data from the shipyard, to uncover whether there were racially-biased patterns of employment outcomes. Dr. Lanier submitted two expert reports addressing liability. He has been deposed and provided testimony as to the existence of statistically-significant racial patterns in both pay and promotion outcomes to the disadvantage of African American employees. Dr. Lanier also has submitted several expert reports and provided testimony regarding back pay damages for individual plaintiff claims.
Gonzalez, et al., v. State of Arizona, et al.
Proposition 200, an Arizona state initiative passed in November 2004 as a way to prevent non-citizens from voting, requires (1) individuals to produce proof of citizenship before they may register to vote and (2) that all voters must show identification before they are allowed to vote at the polls. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of numerous individuals and organizations alleging that this proposition contains restrictions that impede U.S. citizens seeking to vote.
Econ One was retained by the plaintiffs’ counsel to provide statistical analyses of the Arizona voter polls, rejected voter registration applications, and uncounted ballots. Based on the analyses he conducted, Louis Lanier testified at trial that Proposition 200 has resulted in the rejection of over 38,000 voter registration forms and thousands of ballots since its implementation in early 2005. Dr. Lanier also opined that the law has disproportionately affected the population of naturalized Hispanic citizens who are of voting age in Arizona. A ruling in the case is expected by the end of the year.
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