EEOC releases FY 2016 enforcement and litigation data details

By Joy Waltemath

On January 18, the EEOC released detailed breakdowns for the 91,503 charges of workplace discrimination the agency received in fiscal year 2016. This is the second year in a row that the number of charges filed with EEOC has increased. The EEOC had previously released FY 2016 highlights.

FY 2016 charges. Overall, EEOC resolved 97,443 charges in FY 2016 and secured more than $482 million for victims of discrimination in private-sector and state and local government workplaces through voluntary resolutions and litigation, the commission reported. It also reduced the workload of pending charges by 3.8 percent to 73,508—its lowest pending charge workload in three years. The agency responded to over 585,000 calls to its toll-free number and more than 160,000 inquiries in field offices, reflecting the significant public demand for EEOC’s services.

LGBT charges. This is the first year that EEOC has included detailed information about LGBT charges in its year-end summary. The agency said it resolved 1,650 charges and recovered $4.4 million for LGBT individuals who filed sex discrimination charges with EEOC in FY 2016. Additionally, the data show a steady increase in the four years the agency has been collecting LGBT charge data. From FY 2013 through FY 2016, nearly 4,000 charges were filed with EEOC by LGBT individuals alleging sex discrimination, and EEOC recovered $10.8 million for these individuals.

Retaliation, then race, top the list. Specifically, the charge numbers show the following breakdowns by bases alleged, in descending order:

Retaliation: 42,018 (45.9 percent of all charges filed)
Race: 32,309 (35.3 percent)
Disability: 28,073 (30.7 percent)
Sex: 26,934 (29.4 percent)
Age: 20,857 (22.8 percent)
National Origin: 9,840 (10.8 percent)
Religion: 3,825 (4.2 percent)
Color: 3,102 (3.4 percent)
Equal Pay Act: 1,075 (1.2 percent)
Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act: 238 (.3 percent)

These percentages add up to more than 100 because some charges allege multiple bases.

Litigation. EEOC legal staff resolved 139 lawsuits and filed 86 lawsuits alleging discrimination in FY 2016. The lawsuits filed by EEOC included 55 individual suits and 31 suits involving multiple victims or discriminatory policies. At the end of the fiscal year, the EEOC had 168 cases on its active docket, of which 48 (28.6 percent) involve challenges to systemic discrimination and an additional 32 (19 percent) are multiple-victim cases. It achieved a successful outcome in 90.6 percent of all suit resolutions, the agency reported.

“EEOC advances opportunity for all of America’s workers and plays a critical role in helping employers build stronger workplaces,” said EEOC Chair Jenny Yang. “Despite the progress that has been made, we continue to see discrimination in both overt and subtle forms. The ongoing challenge of combating employment discrimination is what makes EEOC’s work as important as ever.”

Source:: Employment Law Daily Newsfeed