Private Sector Bias Charges Hit All-Time High

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
1-25-12

Pending Inventory Reduced for First Time in 10 Years, Record Amount of Relief Obtained in FY 2011, EEOC Reports

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received a record 99,947 charges of employment discrimination and obtained $455.6 million in relief through its administrative program and litigation in Fiscal Year 2011, the agency announced today. For the second year in a row, despite a record number of receipts, the Commission resolved more charges than it took in with 112,499 resolutions (7,500 more resolutions than FY 2010—an increase of 7%)—leaving 78,136 pending charges, a ten percent decrease in its inventory, the first year the agency has seen a reduction since 2002.

The FY 2011 data also show:

•Due to EEOC’s enforcement programs in both the private and federal sectors, 5.4 million individuals benefitted from changes in employment policies or practices in their workplace during the past fiscal year.
•Through its combined enforcement, mediation and litigation programs, the EEOC was able to obtain a record $455.6 million in relief for private sector, state, and local employees and applicants, a more than $51 million increase from the past fiscal year and continuing the upward trend of the past three fiscal years.
•The mediation program reached record levels, both in the number of resolutions – 9,831 – which is 5% more than in FY 2010 (9,362), and benefits -- $170,053,021-- $28 million more than FY 2010.
•The Commission filed 300 lawsuits and its litigation efforts resulted in $91 million of relief, representing the third year in a row that the relief obtained was greater than in the preceding year. Continuing to build on its commitment to systemic litigation, 23 of the lawsuits filed involved systemic allegations involving large numbers of people and an additional 67 had multiple victims (less than 20).
•The Commission also filed 261 “merits” (merits suits include direct suits and interventions alleging violations of the substantive provisions of the statutes enforced by the Commission and suits to enforce administrative settlements) lawsuits.
•EEOC’s public outreach and education programs reached approximately 540,000 persons.
•In the federal sector, where the EEOC has different enforcement obligations, the Commission resolved a total of 7,672 requests for hearings, securing more than $58 million in relief for parties who requested hearings. It also resolved 4,510 appeals from final agency determinations.

“For the second year in a row, the EEOC received a record number of new charges of discrimination,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien. “Nevertheless, the hard work of our employees, combined with increased investments in training, technology and staffing in 2009 and 2010, and strategic management of existing resources made 2011 a year of extraordinary achievements for the EEOC.”

The total number of charges received was up slightly from last fiscal year’s record total. Once again, charges alleging retaliation under all the statutes the EEOC enforces were the most numerous at 37,334 charges received, or 37.4 percent of all charges, closely followed by charges involving claims of race discrimination at 35,395 charges or 35.4 percent. While the numbers of charges with race and sex discrimination allegations declined from the previous year, charges with the two other most frequently-cited allegations increased:

•Disability discrimination--25,742
•Age discrimination—23,465

The agency’s enforcement of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) produced the highest increase in monetary relief among all of the statutes: the administrative relief obtained for disability discrimination charges increased by almost 35.9 percent to $103.4 million compared to $76.1 million in the previous fiscal year. Back impairments were the most frequently cited impairment under the ADA, followed by other orthopedic impairments, depression, anxiety disorder and diabetes.

For the first full fiscal year of enforcement, the EEOC received 245 charges under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of genetic information, including family medical history. So far, none of these charges has proceeded to litigation.

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.


The fiscal year 2011 enforcement and litigation statistics, which include trend data, are available on the EEOC’s website at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/index.cfm. More information about the EEOC is available on its website at www.eeoc.gov.

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/1-24-12a.cfm

EEOC Dramatically Slows Growth of Private Sector Charge Inventory

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
11-23-10

Despite Receiving Record Number Of Charges, Backlog Up Less Than One Percent

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that the agency is making progress in rebuilding its capacity to enforce the civil rights laws protecting the nation’s workers. Over the past two years, the EEOC has begun to replenish its depleted ranks and dedicate significant resources to training employees, the largest sustained training effort the agency has conducted in at least a decade.
As a result, the federal agency ended Fiscal Year 2010 with 86,338 pending charges—an increase of only 570 charges, or less than one percent. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the EEOC’s pending inventory increased 15.9 percent.
“The EEOC is on the path toward rebuilding and on track to make further progress in the upcoming fiscal year to more efficiently and effectively enforce the federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien.
The EEOC received a record 99,922 charges in FY 2010, which ended Sept. 30, —the highest number of charges in the agency’s 45-year history. EEOC staff also delivered historic relief for victims of workplace discrimination. The agency secured more than $319 million in monetary benefits for individuals—the highest level of relief obtained through administrative enforcement in the Commission’s history. Among other agency achievements:
The mediation program ended the year with a record 9,370 resolutions, 10 percent more than FY 2009 levels, and more than $142 million in monetary benefits;
The EEOC also expanded its reach to underserved communities by providing educational training, and public outreach events to approximately 250,000 persons;
The agency continued its concerted effort to build a strong national systemic enforcement program. At the end of the fiscal year, 465 systemic investigations, involving more than 2,000 charges, were being undertaken;
The EEOC resolved a total of 7,213 requests for hearings in the Federal Sector, securing more than $63 million in relief for parties who requested hearings. The agency also timely resolved more than 66 percent of Federal Sector appeals.
The EEOC’s FY 2010 annual Performance and Accountability Report is posted on the agency’s web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/2010par.cfm. Comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics for FY 2010 will be available in early 2011.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the Commission is available on its web site www.eeoc.gov.

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/11-23-10.cfm