Abstract
<p>The structure of discrimination law, with its many pro-employer inferences and rules, pushes cases toward dismissal. In this chapter, we explore what we call the “fakers and floodgates” argument—the idea that judges must curtail the reach of discrimination law because the federal court system is flooded with unmeritorious employment discrimination suits. It is important that concerns about fakers and floodgates be taken seriously. If fake claims were flooding the federal docket, this would be a significant problem. However, the fakers and floodgates argument is unproven and therefore should not support change to discrimination law. No data shows that the courts are flooded with false claims. If false claims exist, the courts already have an effective way to ameliorate them: they can punish litigants who make false claims. Nonetheless, the “fakers and floodgates” argument plays a powerful role in modern discrimination law.</p>