The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that 93,277 workplace discrimination charges were filed in fiscal year 2009. That’s the 2nd highest total ever. Over $376 million dollars were collected for discrimination victims. Discrimination charges based on disability (up 10%), religion (1% increase) or national origin (up 5%) hit record highs.
Age claims reached the 2nd highest level ever. A change last year in the ADA which, in effect, expanded the definition of disability may be driving some of the increase in ADA claims.The most frequent types of charges continued to be those based on race (36%), retaliation (36%) and sex (30%).
Several types of discrimination can be included in a single claim. The high number of complaints may be due to a number of factors, including the economy, increased diversity, and demographic changes.