Assessed potential litigation risk associated with a reduction in force

CRA was retained by a pharmaceutical firm to assess the potential litigation risk associated with a proposed reduction in force. Using client-provided comparator pools to identify employees with similar chances of being impacted by the reduction, CRA’s preliminary analyses identified particular subgroups that were adversely impacted by the selection decisions. Further examination into the factors influencing the decision process identified two discretionary factors that led to the over-selection of particular employee groups. Using this information, the firm reviewed the decision process and removed these factors from consideration. The resulting selection decisions showed no adverse impact with respect to any particular employee group, thus reducing the risk of potential litigation.