CSUEB statistics professor included in NY Times story on Wal-Mart lawsuit

• June 14, 2010 5:55am

Professor Emeritus of Statistics Richard Drogin and his work on the biggest sex discrimination lawsuit in United States history was referenced in a New York Times article.

Steven Greenhouse wrote in “Report Warned Wal-Mart of Risks Before Bias Suit”, that Drogin’s findings after examining Wal-Mart payroll data mirrored that of a prominent law firm hired by Wal-Mart six years earlier to determine its vulnerability to just such a suit.

The law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, found widespread gender disparities in pay and promotion at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores and urged the company to take basic steps — like posting every job opening and creating specific goals to promote women and minorities — to avoid liability.

Akin Gump’s findings parallel those of the plaintiffs’ main expert, Richard Drogin, an emeritus statistics professor, who examined payroll data from 1996 to 2002 that Wal-Mart provided in the case.

Drogin has also served as an expert on other lawsuits, including: Bell v. Farmers, Stender v. Lucky Stores, Butler v. Home Depot, Kraszewski v. State Farm, Haynes v. Shoneys, Shores v. Publix, Satchell v. FedEx, Sav-On Overtime Cases, and Staples Overtime Cases.

KL