As if there weren’t enough good reasons not to go to court on employment claims, the Internet has given us another.

Increasingly, electronic court filings are being widely circulated, either by plaintiffs’ attorneys or by courthouse information services. And the more sensational the allegations, the likelier the case is to go viral.

The trend is most notable where someone (usually but not always a woman) alleges that she’s been subjected to sexual misconduct and/or discrimination. No surprise there. There’s a far smaller audience for cases about, say, subordinated debentures.

The Internet is nothing if not a vehicle for creating mass outrage: Her co-workers were disgusting! The company laughed off her complaints! She had to leave her job and her whole life is falling apart! Something must be done!

Although going public can sometimes be a good tactic to create sympathy and perhaps push the employer to settle quickly and generously, it also may backfire.

In some cases, the employer has damaging information of its own to release. Years ago, while investigating a woman’s claims of inappropriate conduct by her boss, I learned that she often initiated sexual talk at work, even sharing graphic nude photographs of herself. In the digital age, her behavior could have become common knowledge well beyond her circle of co-workers.

Being publicly embarrassed also may cause the employer to harden its stance. Where management may have been prepared to offer the employee a reasonable settlement, it now may feel compelled to disprove the allegations and restore its reputation.

There are downsides for the plaintiff as well. As with any lawsuit, she (or he) may be viewed as a risky hire. She also may be labeled as a victim or perhaps even a slut, a reputation that can carry over into her personal life. As a law professor told the New York Times, “Things people never bargained on getting out will get out.”

The fear of adverse publicity also keeps many legitimate victims of discrimination and harassment from filing suit, lest their lives be laid open to the world. This may be the most unfortunate consequence of all.

Training employees and managers about sexual harassment, I used to suggest they ask themselves whether they’d be ok with their spouses reading about their behavior in the local newspaper. Now that question is whether they would want their actions to be shared with friends, neighbors, employers, and strangers all around the world.