According to final enforcement and litigation statistics for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received a total of 89,385 discrimination charge filings last year, a small increase (0.7%) above the 88,778 charges received in FY 2014. As has been the case now over the previous seven years, allegations of unlawful retaliation led the way, showing up in nearly one of every two charges filed.
The data also show that the percentage of charges alleging disability discrimination continues to increase, with allegations of disability discrimination for the first time surpassing the percentage of charges alleging sex discrimination. In contrast, the number of sex harassment charges declined for the sixth straight year.
With respect to agency-initiated litigation, although the number of lawsuits brought by the EEOC in FY 2015 was similar to the number brought the previous year, the agency recovered almost three times more in monetary benefits than in FY 2014.
The EEOC’s detailed FY 2015 charge and litigation data are available online here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.