EEOC Secures $505 Million for Victims in Fiscal Year 2018
On April 10, 2019, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released detailed breakdowns for the 76,418 charges of workplace discrimination the agency received in fiscal year 2018. The comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics for FY 2018, which ended September 30, 2018, are posted on the agency’s website, which also includes detailed breakdown of charges by state.
The EEOC resolved 90,558 charges of discrimination and secured $505 million for victims in private sector, state and local government, and federal workplaces. The agency handled over 519,000 calls to its toll-free number, 34,600 emails, and more than 200,000 inquiries in field offices.
The FY 2018 data show that retaliation continued to be the most frequently filed charge filed with the agency, followed by sex, disability, and race. The agency also received 7,609 sexual harassment charges — a 13.6 percent increase from FY 2017 — and obtained $56.6 million dollars in monetary benefits for victims of sexual harassment. Specifically, the charge numbers show the following breakdowns by allegations, in descending order:
- Retaliation: 39,469 (51.6 percent of all charges filed)
- Sex: 24,655 (32.3 percent)
- Disability: 24,605 (32.2 percent)
- Race: 24,600 (32.2 percent)
- Age: 16,911 (22.1 percent)
- National Origin: 7,106 (9.3 percent)
- Color: 3,166 (4.1 percent)
- Religion: 2,859 (3.7 percent)
- Equal Pay Act: 1,066 (1.4 percent)
- Genetic Information: 220 (.3 percent)
These percentages add up to more than 100 because some charges allege multiple bases.
EEOC legal staff filed 199 merits lawsuits alleging discrimination in fiscal year 2018, including 117 individual suits, 45 suits involving multiple victims or discriminatory policies, and 37 systemic discrimination cases. At the end of the fiscal year, the EEOC had 302 cases on its active docket.
The EEOC achieved a successful outcome in 95.7 percent of all district court resolutions.
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