Nowadays, employers and corporations have to make so many things idiot proof. That's why we have warnings on hair dryers telling us not to use them when we're in a shower.
People don't realize that for every award given to some boneheaded plaintiff, the defendant corporation owes more in liability insurance premiums. And that increase means the goods and services the defendant provides will go up in price for the consumer. If you order a Whopper tomorrow, it will cost more than it did today.
It goes further even than that. The premiums of every other insured in that risk pool also rise after each payout. McD's and Wendy's will also pay higher premiums. And as Burger King raises their prices to pay for the higher premiums, the decreased competitive pressure upon their rivals will allow their prices to rise also, in response to the increased cost of doing business.
And, it gets worse yet. Each business victimized by the organized crime of litigational extortion, will be that much less prone to risk the expense of defending themselves in court, since the outcome seems predisposed against them. Instead, they will simply pay up when Dershowitz comes to town, when Jesse Jackson comes to town, in fact, whenever any new extortionist even threatens.
Goodbye jobs, goodbye entrepreneurism, goodbye consumer choice.