Retaliation Most Frequently Filed Charge in Fiscal Year ’12

Year-end data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) show that retaliation was the most frequently filed charge in fiscal year 2012, followed by race and then sex discrimination charges, which include allegations of sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination. The most frequently cited discriminatory actions under all statutes were, respectively, discharge, “terms and conditions” of employment, and discipline.

The EEOC received 99,412 private sector workplace discrimination charges in fiscal year 2012, down slightly from the previous year. Also this fiscal year, the agency obtained the largest amount of monetary recovery from private sector and state and local government employers through its administrative process – $365.4 million.

Additionally, the EEOC achieved a second consecutive year of a significant reduction in the charge inventory, something not seen since 2002. The agency reduced the pending inventory of privates sector charges by 10% from fiscal year 2011, bringing the inventory to 70,312.

During the fiscal year, the EEOC filed 122 lawsuits, including 86 individual suits, 26 multiple-victim suits (with fewer than 20 victims) and 10 systemic suits. The agency’s legal staff resolved 254 lawsuits for a total monetary recovery of $44.2 million.

EEOC continued its emphasis on eliminating systemic patterns of discrimination in the workplace, completing 240 systemic investigations, which in part resulted in 46 settlements or conciliation agreements. These settlements achieved without litigation secured $36.2 million for victims of discrimination.

Overall, the EEOC secured both monetary and non-monetary benefits for more than 23,46 people through administrative enforcement activities such as mediation, settlements, conciliation and withdrawals with benefits. The number of charges resolved through conciliation, the last step in the EEOC administrative process prior to litigation, increased by 18% over 2011.

Complete enforcement and litigation statistics, including trend data