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(CNN) -- When it comes to the bottom line, there are a few reasons that an employer might pay to sweep sexual harassment allegations under the rug instead of fighting them in the courtroom or the court of public opinion.
Legal costs and damage control top the list, employment attorneys and workplace policy experts say. Even if the allegations seem baseless, it's the cost of doing business, a quick fix to shield an employer from further allegations, boycotts or worse. But, on the flipside, settlements come with the risk of enabling someone to reoffend.
GOP presidential contender Herman Cain finds himself addressing allegations of inappropriate behavior, made by two former female employees of the National Restaurant Association when he led the organization in the 1990s. Cain said he was falsely accused and that a thorough investigation found the claims had no basis. He acknowledged Monday night that there was a settlement, contradicting a statement earlier in the day in which he said he had no knowledge of a settlement.
"My general counsel said this started out where (an accuser) and her lawyer were demanding a huge financial settlement. I don't remember a number," Cain said on Fox News. "But then he said because there was no basis for this, we ended up settling for what would have been a termination settlement."
Cain: 'This is a smear campaign' Cain's handling of harassment news Cain denies sexual harassment Barbour on Cain: I'm very surprised
Citing multiple unnamed sources, POLITICO first reported the organization reached a settlement with the women to leave their jobs in exchange for their silence. Employment attorneys and workplace policy experts say it's a common practice for businesses and organizations to strive to reach confidential settlements on sexual harassment claims.
"They're extremely common, and many of them are done prior to any lawsuit being filed, which is why the press doesn't know about them," said Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who has made her name representing allegedly wronged women from all walks of life. "The purpose is to avoid litigation and keep it confidential, because once it's filed it becomes public record."
The women, whom POLITICO did not identify, reportedly received five-digit settlements. If true, a figure at the low end of that range could be a "nuisance" payoff, the cost of making a baseless matter go away, Allred said. On the high end of five digits, it could be a hefty payout that equates to a silent acknowledgment of wrongdoing, she said.
On average, confidential settlements range from four to five figures, she said, which still pales in comparison to a potential jury award at trial. The website of Allred's law firm boasts of verdicts from $5 million to $18.4 million.
The confidentiality clause is also an attractive near-guarantee that the matter will stay secret, unless someone is subpoenaed to discuss the terms in a court of law or before a congressional committee, she said. (Or unless someone leaks it to the press.)
But there are greater collateral effects of concealing real instances of harassment, said David Yamada, Suffolk University law professor and director of the New Workplace Institute in Boston.
"Employers become complicit in shielding themselves and the individual harassers -- many of whom are management level or supervisors -- from genuine accountability," he said. "If the confidential settlement does not result in any concrete discipline or discharge of the harasser, there's a decent chance it will happen again to another employee."
Legal costs and damage control top the list, employment attorneys and workplace policy experts say. Even if the allegations seem baseless, it's the cost of doing business, a quick fix to shield an employer from further allegations, boycotts or worse. But, on the flipside, settlements come with the risk of enabling someone to reoffend.
GOP presidential contender Herman Cain finds himself addressing allegations of inappropriate behavior, made by two former female employees of the National Restaurant Association when he led the organization in the 1990s. Cain said he was falsely accused and that a thorough investigation found the claims had no basis. He acknowledged Monday night that there was a settlement, contradicting a statement earlier in the day in which he said he had no knowledge of a settlement.
"My general counsel said this started out where (an accuser) and her lawyer were demanding a huge financial settlement. I don't remember a number," Cain said on Fox News. "But then he said because there was no basis for this, we ended up settling for what would have been a termination settlement."
Cain: 'This is a smear campaign' Cain's handling of harassment news Cain denies sexual harassment Barbour on Cain: I'm very surprised
Citing multiple unnamed sources, POLITICO first reported the organization reached a settlement with the women to leave their jobs in exchange for their silence. Employment attorneys and workplace policy experts say it's a common practice for businesses and organizations to strive to reach confidential settlements on sexual harassment claims.
"They're extremely common, and many of them are done prior to any lawsuit being filed, which is why the press doesn't know about them," said Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who has made her name representing allegedly wronged women from all walks of life. "The purpose is to avoid litigation and keep it confidential, because once it's filed it becomes public record."
The women, whom POLITICO did not identify, reportedly received five-digit settlements. If true, a figure at the low end of that range could be a "nuisance" payoff, the cost of making a baseless matter go away, Allred said. On the high end of five digits, it could be a hefty payout that equates to a silent acknowledgment of wrongdoing, she said.
On average, confidential settlements range from four to five figures, she said, which still pales in comparison to a potential jury award at trial. The website of Allred's law firm boasts of verdicts from $5 million to $18.4 million.
The confidentiality clause is also an attractive near-guarantee that the matter will stay secret, unless someone is subpoenaed to discuss the terms in a court of law or before a congressional committee, she said. (Or unless someone leaks it to the press.)
But there are greater collateral effects of concealing real instances of harassment, said David Yamada, Suffolk University law professor and director of the New Workplace Institute in Boston.
"Employers become complicit in shielding themselves and the individual harassers -- many of whom are management level or supervisors -- from genuine accountability," he said. "If the confidential settlement does not result in any concrete discipline or discharge of the harasser, there's a decent chance it will happen again to another employee."
If he was white, it would probably be over but since he's black he may be able to ride the storm with the witch hunt claim.
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