EEOC Still Very Active

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ended its Fiscal Year 2015 on a relatively high note. There were a total of 89,385 Charges filed during Fiscal Year 2015. Those Charges reflect the following breakdown:

• Retaliation Charges: 39,757 (44.5% of all Charges filed)
• Race: 31,027 (35.7%)
• Disability: 26,968 (30.2%)
• Sex: 26,396 (29.5%)
• Age: 20,144 (22.5%)
• National Origin: 9,438 (10.6%)
• Religion: 3,502 (3.9%)
• Color: 2,833 (3.2%)
• Equal Pay Act: 973 (1.1%)
• Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act: 257 (.3%)

It should be noted that if one were to add up the actual percentages, this would reflect more than 100% because some Charges are predicated on multiple basis filings.

Also, during Fiscal Year 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission resolved a total of 92,000 Charges of Discrimination and secured in excess of $527,000,000 for victims of discrimination (356.6 million for victims of discrimination in Private Sector and State and Local Government workplaces; 65.3 million through litigation and 105.7 million for Federal Employees and Applicants). 

It should also be noted that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is pursuing, very aggressively, discrimination against an individual because of his/her sexual orientation and pursuing this on the basis that this type of discrimination is predicated on sex. The EEOC has also been aggressively pursuing, through litigation, the protection of transgender individuals in the workplace, both in the job protection venue and in the day-to-day interaction in the workplace (i.e. use of facilities). Fiscal Year 2016 will see a big push in this arena. 

So there is no confusion on anyone’s part, from Fiscal 1997 through Fiscal 2015 the EEOC handled a total number of 1,637,396 Charges or, on a Fiscal Year average, a little over 86,000 Charges per year. Obviously, every Employer, be that a Private Employer, State or Local Government Employer, or Federal Government Employer, should take notice that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a very aggressive Agency in protecting the rights of individuals under the auspices of Title VII and other Laws.

Questions? Contact Attorney Walter J. Liszka at (312) 629-9300 or by email at waliszka@wesselssherman.com.