[nphase]

A friend with specific knowledge about these suits just informed me that these lawsuits are in fact incredibly common. Many large companies have multiple open audits with the feds at any given time over alleged discriminatory practices - in fact so many of them occur that there is a cap set for how many of them can be open at any given time. This is less political or specific than it appears at face value.

[arcticfox]

Nobody would ever follow the rules if these lawsuits didn't exist, this lawsuit seems both banal and necessary.

[whimsicalism]

But why didn't they just settle is my question.

[cobertos]

Because settlement happens after a lawsuit is brought? Settlement is a means of reaching agreement before a trial, and is encouraged by the court as to save the court resouces, if parties can work it out amongst themselves

[whimsicalism]

Fair point - clearly I am not very well versed in the law :)

Is there a point at which money would exchange hands before a formal suit is filed? If so, that is the stage I am surprised this didn't progress past.

[HWR_14]

There is such a point where money would exchange hands before a formal suit between two private actors. For instance, I might want to settle with you quickly and privately to avoid having to admit what I did.

The government, on the other hand, wants the publicity of having filed the suit to deter other companies from doing the same thing. I don't believe they frequently settle before filing a formal suit.

[dragonwriter]

> Is there a point at which money would exchange hands before a formal suit is filed?

For a purely monetary resolution to avoid a lawsuit, yes, but in regulatory cases rather than disputes between private parties where such an outcome is often preferred to a lawsuit occurring, the government will often not be interested in such an outcome, and will instead prefer a consent decree with behavioral restrictions that have strong legal consequences. These have to have an actual active case, as they are are court orders to which both parties stipulate, not private agreements. (“Settlement” can cover either type of resolution.)

[Bloating]

I wonder why the court system is backed up

[systemvoltage]

This types of lawsuits are NOT common. This is an extremely political prosecution by the DOJ. They know what they’re doing.

Let’s not normalize this as common occurrence.

[nphase]

There are literally 1902 results for "discriminating" on the DOJ's press release search page, and they only go back as far as 2009. That's also for the ones they chose to publicize. I appreciate that you think this is unnecessary - I do too - but the facts don't bear in your favor.

[systemvoltage]

That's not my argument though. A precise targetted case like this is rare. It is entirely political, has no bearing in rationality.

[nphase]

The word "discrimination" also appears on this page 22 times: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp . This is only a precisely targeted case if we ignore all other cases like it, of which there are many.

[systemvoltage]

Except that in this case we have a reason to discriminate against asylum seekers: ITAR and highly sensitive military tech.

There is absolutely zero reason to sue SpaceX except for political hitpoints.