Our Blog Archive for January 2010

On January 6, 2010, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its charge filing statistics for the 2009 Fiscal Year. To see the report, go to: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/1-6-10.cfm.

Here are the highlights and what you need to know.

The Numbers

• The total number of charges filed with the EEOC in 2009 were 93,277, just slightly off 2008’s record number of 95,402, and making 2009 the second highest year on record in terms of total number of charges filed with the Commission. The two-year annual average for 2008 and 2009 is a staggering 94,340 charges.
• In 2009, the EEOC received record numbers of charges alleging national origin discrimination (11,134), religious discrimination (3,386), disability discrimination (21,451), and retaliation (33,613).
• Retaliation discrimination is now the most frequently cited form of discrimination (again, 33,613 charges), overtaking race discrimination (33,579 charges) by a slim margin.
• The Commission recovered a record $294 Million through its enforcement efforts and mediation. It also filed 281 new lawsuits against employers.

Observations and Implications

• 2009’s numbers illustrate that 2008 wasn’t just a blip or an abnormality, but rather the beginning of a cycle of heavy charge filing and litigation fueled by the down economy and employee-friendly revisions to EEO laws (such as the Americans With Disabilities Act Amendment Act of 2008, which makes it much easier to assert viable claims of disability discrimination).
• Although not mentioned in the EEOC’s report, Congress continues to allocate more enforcement resources to the Commission. For example, the EEOC is hiring 200 new Investigators, and the House of Representatives recently approved an additional $23 Million to help the EEOC reduce its 70,000 case backlog.

Action Items

• Given the rise in retaliation, national origin, and disability charges, relying solely on sexual harassment policies and training is not sufficient; comprehensive and broad-based anti-discrimination policies and training, covering other forms of discrimination, are crucial.
• Policies alone are not enough to protect your organization from the onslaught of EEO charges. Both the U.S. Supreme Court and EEOC Guidelines on discrimination prevention say that effective compliance programs require both solid anti-discrimination policies and effective anti-discrimination training. Now more than ever, organizations that use both strong policies and effective anti-discrimination training can avoid the EEO claims to begin with, or if charged, assert powerful affirmative defenses that often can save the organization significant dollars.