The US has long had a ferociously litigious culture. In the employment sphere, the claims most feared by US employers are “class actions”, which account for a significant percentage of all employment claims and are often of an extraordinarily high value. In a number of cases, awards of over $100 million (£53m) have been made against employers because of class actions.

Traditionally, these lawsuits have taken one of two forms: action by a third party, such as an equality commission or a litigation-hungry lawyer, on behalf of a group of unnamed individuals who share some defining characteristic, or action by a third party on behalf of a group of named individuals. In the UK, claims have to be filed for each individual claimant, but that could soon change.