Discrimination Charges At Record Levels
As increasing numbers of employees find themselves out of work, many employers are faced with charges of discrimination which would never have been brought before the recent economic downturn.
Both state and federal agencies regulate discrimination in employment. In California, the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission accepts claims of discrimination on the basis of age, sex, pregnancy, race, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, and sexual orientation. In enforcing federal discrimination laws, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accepts the same claims and enforces the main discrimination statute, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”).
The EEOC recently reported receiving a the second highest number of claims in its history during 2009. It noted that of the 93,277 workplace discrimination charges filed, race and sex discrimination continued to be the most frequently filed. The Fiscal Year 2009 data showed that the private sector bias charges alleging discrimination based on disability, religion and/or national origin hit record highs. charges alleging age-based discrimination reached the second highest level ever.
The agency noted that it had resolved, either through settlement, withdrawal of the charge or a conciliation agreement, 85,980 charges. These charges resulted in approximately $376 million in relief for the aggrieved employees. This relief represented a $20 million increase over awards made in 2008.
As discussed in the comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics .published on January 6, 2010, the EEOC feels that "The near-historic level of total discrimination charge filings may be due to multiple factors, including greater accessibility of the EEOC to the public, economic conditions, increased diversity and demographic shifts in the labor force, employees' greater awareness of their rights under the law, and changes to the agency's intake practices that cut down on the steps needed for an individual to file a charge."
The statistics published by the EEOC should be viewed as a indication of the willingness of terminated or disgruntled employees to file charges of discrimination in numbers never seen before in the history of the agency. Consequently all California employers are well advised to insure that their written policies and procedures and all of their practices are in compliance with both state and federal anti-discrimination statutes and regulations.
