EEOC FISCAL 2016 ENFORCEMENT AND LITIGATION DATA

Written on January 19, 2017.

This week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released detailed breakdowns for the 91,503 charges of workplace discrimination the agency received in fiscal year 2016. According to EEOC, this is the second year in a row that the number of charges filed with EEOC has increased.

Overall, EEOC claims to have resolved 97,443 charges in fiscal year 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. Keep in mind that some of these resolutions also involved private counsel, but the EEOC is taking credit for the resolution.

Once again, retaliation is the most frequent claim in EEOC charges. 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.]

This is the first year that EEOC has included detailed information about LGBT charges in its year-end summary. EEOC resolved 1,650 charges and recovered $4.4 million for LGBT individuals who filed sex discrimination charges with EEOC in fiscal year 2016. Additionally, the data show a steady increase in the four years the agency has been collecting LGBT charge data. From fiscal year 2013 through fiscal year 2016, nearly 4,000 charges were filed with EEOC by LGBT individuals alleging sex discrimination, and EEOC recovered $10.8 million for these individuals. The EEOC takes the position that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits such bias as forms of sex discrimination. It will be interesting to see whether the EEOC takes a less aggressive position on this issue under a new administration.

Kathleen J. Jennings

Former Principal

Kathleen J. Jennings is a former principal in the Atlanta office of Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider, & Stine, P.C. She defends employers in employment matters, such as sexual harassment, discrimination, Wage and Hour, OSHA, restrictive covenants, and other employment litigation and provides training and counseling to employers in employment matters.