EEOC on the March–Charges, Investigations, and Claims

Review of Charge Activity, Backlog, and Benefits Provided

On November 19, 2012, the EEOC announced the publication of the FY 2012 Performance and Accountability Report.  During FY 2012, the Commission again received nearly 100,000 charges, with the past 3 years involving a record number of charges in the Commission’s 47-year history.

Since FY 2006, there has been a dramatic increase in the level of charge activity, except for a minor dip in FY 2009, says the Littler report, as shown by the following:

The Commission reported a “significant reduction” in its inventory of charges, its “backlog,” having reduced its inventory from 78,136 charges to 70,312 charges. The Commission also resolved a total of 111,139 charges in FY 2012, thus resolving more charges than were filed, the Littler report says.

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A review of the Commission’s Annual Reports in FYs 2011 and 2012 demonstrates that although there was a slight increase in the number of systemic investigations, there was a dramatic increase in terms of results achieved:

SYSTEMIC INVESTIGATIONS 2012 2011

The Commission underscored the impact of its systemic initiative during FY 2012, explaining, “The $36 million recovered in systemic resolutions this year is four times the amount recovered in FY 2011.”

While not mentioned in the EEOC 2012 Annual Report, a “reasonable cause” finding was reached in nearly 40% of the systemic investigations in FY 2011, compared to a “reasonable cause” finding typically being made in less than 5% of all EEOC charges, according to the Littler report.

The Commission also commented that “there was a focus on promoting coordination of field activities to ensure that investigations across districts that involve common issues are handled collaboratively, bringing greater efficiencies and reinforcing the national enforcement agency model.”

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The Commission pointed to the “strong collaboration between the enforcement and legal staff in all aspects of systemic work.”

In reviewing all new court filings, the EEOC lawsuits included 66 Title VII claims, 45 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims, 12 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) claims, and two Equal Pay Act (EPA) claims.

Based on a review of reported filings by the EEOC and Littler’s tracking of all EEOC filed lawsuits, a more-detailed breakdown indicates the following:

A very active EEOC—not the news many employers wanted to hear but all the more.

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