In late January 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released breakdowns of the total amount of workplace discrimination charges the agency received in the 2019 fiscal year. Here, the attorneys at Eccleston & Wolf provide an overview of the comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics provided by the EEOC as well as significant trends in the data.
The Fiscal Year 2019 Saw a Decrease in Workplace Discrimination Charges Filed to the EEOC
According to the Fiscal Year 2019 data released by the EEOC, retaliation continued to be the most frequent charge filed with the agency, with a total of 39,110 charges filed— which accounts for over half of the total charges. This number, however, has slightly decreased from the fiscal year 2018 data, which showed that there were 39,469 total retaliation charges. In addition, disability charges filed totaled 24,238 cases, or 33.4% of the total charges filed in the fiscal year 2019, a decrease from 24,605 cases in fiscal year 2018. Race charges totaled 23,976 charges filed in the fiscal year 2019, or 33% of the total workplace discrimination charges filed. This is a decrease from the fiscal year 2018, which saw 24,600 total charges filed to the agency. The fiscal year 2019 data also showed that there were 7,514 total sexual harassment charges filed to the agency, which equates to 10.3% of all charges for the fiscal year 2019. This number has decreased by 1.2% from the fiscal year 2018.
Additional workplace harassment charges for the fiscal year 2019 were broken down into bases including age, national origin, color, religion, Equal Pay Act and genetic information. A total of 15,573 cases were filed for age discrimination, a decrease from 16,911 charges filed to the EEOC in 2018. A total of 7,009 cases were filed under national origin in 2019, a decrease from 7,106. In addition, 4.7% of the fiscal year 2019 charges filed included charges under color, totaling 3,415. This number has increased from 3,166 in the fiscal year 2018. Furthermore, charges filed under religion totaled 2,725 in 2019, a decrease from 2,859 in 2018. Lastly, a total of 1,117 charges were filed under the Equal Pay Act basis and a total of 209 charges were filed under the genetic information basis in 2019. While the number of charges filed under the Equal Pay Act rose slightly from 2018, the number of charges filed for genetic information saw a decrease.
Discuss the Trends in EEOC Enforcement and Litigation Data with the Attorneys at Eccleston & Wolf
Overall, the fiscal year 2019 saw a downward trend in the total amount of workplace harassment and discrimination charges from 2018 to 2019, with few exceptions. However, employers still find themselves facing EEOC-based claims and investigations, which can more effectively be navigated and addressed through the assistance of counsel. The team of employment lawyers at Eccleston & Wolf regularly handle such claims at all stages: prior to the initiation of a claim through formal litigation in Federal and State Court. To learn more about our services, contact our team of attorneys at Eccleston & Wolf today. To view the Fiscal Year 2019 Enforcement and Litigation Data in full, click here.