Highs and Lows of the EEOC’s FY18 Statistics

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal employment laws that make it illegal to discriminate against an employee or job applicant due to a person’s race, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 or older), color, disability or genetic information.

This month the EEOC released data for charges filed during fiscal year 2018. While the overall number of charges fell by 9.3%, from 84,254 (FY17) to 76,418 (FY18), two categories saw significant upticks, one area had a considerable decrease, and several others remained relatively flat.*

The breakdown is as follows:

• Retaliation: 39,469 (51.6 % of all charges filed)
  • 2.8% increase over FY17
• Sex: 24,655 (32.3%)
  • 1.9% increase over FY17
• Disability: 24,605 (32.2%)
  • 0.3% increase over FY17
• Race: 24,600 (32.2%)
  • 1.7% decrease over FY17
• Age: 16,911 (22.1%)
  • 0.3% increase over FY17
• National Origin: 7,106 (9.3%)
  • 0.5% decrease over FY17
• Color: 3,166 (4.1%)
  • 0.3% increase over FY17
• Religion: 2,859 (3.7%)
  • 0.4% decrease over FY17
• Equal Pay Act: 1,066 (1.4%)
  • 0.2% increase over FY17
• Genetic Information: 220 (.3%)
  • 0.1% increase over FY17

*Percentages and charge totals add up to more than 100% and more than the cumulative total because some charges allege more than one type of discrimination.

If you are an employee or applicant with concerns about workplace discrimination and/or retaliation involving yourself or others, please contact our office for a consult.  We are here to help.