Employers Laying Off Workers May Miss Red Flags for Bias Suits

An increasing number of companies have announced mass layoffs in recent weeks as a predicted recession looms, raising the threat of costly bias lawsuits where workers allege these employment decisions disproportionately hurt members of protected groups.

The cuts so far have been focused on tech companies including Google and Microsoft Corp., which recently announced layoffs of about 12,000 and 10,000 respectively. The layoff pain has also spread to finance and big banks like Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and is likely to also make its way into other industries in 2023, as economists peg the chances of a ...