The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published its annual Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for fiscal year (FY) 2016 (October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016). The PAR, which is required pursuant to the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and submitted each year to Congress and the president, evaluates the agency’s overall progress toward achieving a number of objectives and priorities identified in the EEOC’s Strategic Plan.
As in previous years, however, the PAR provides preliminary statistics that shed light on the agency’s overall enforcement efforts over the past 12 months. For example, the preliminary statistics show that the EEOC received 91,503 charges of discrimination, a slight increase over the 89,385 that were filed in FY 2015. In addition, the agency collected a total of $400.1 million on behalf of charging parties through administrative enforcement and litigation efforts, which is $21 million shy of the record-breaking $421.1 million it obtained the previous fiscal year.
The EEOC also reports that it resolved 97,443 charges in FY 2016, a 5 percent increase in resolutions over FY 2015. Of particular note, the agency filed a total of only 86 lawsuits in FY 2016 — the lowest by far dating as far back as FY 1992. Of those, 31 (34 percent) involved claims of systemic or class-based discrimination; in comparison, by the end of FY 2015, the EEOC had filed 142 lawsuits.
Aside from highlighting select charge and litigation statistics, the 2016 PAR also outlines EEOC policy developments during the fiscal year. An electronic copy is available here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.