The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information, recently released its enforcement and litigation data for fiscal year 2015, which can be viewed at:

https://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/2-11-16.cfm

Of the 89,385 total charges that were filed in fiscal year 2015, retaliation claims continue to be the leading concern raised by employees.  Here is the percentage breakdown of the charges that were filed last year, which include charges with multiple types of claims alleged:  retaliation (44.5%); race (34.7%); disability (30.2%); sex (29.5%); age (22.5%) national origin (10.6%); religion (3.9%); color (3.2%); equal pay (1.1%); and genetic information (0.3%).  It should also be noted that charges raising harassment allegations based on these protected categories made up nearly 28,000 charges, or 31% of all charges.

The EEOC resolved 92,641 charges in fiscal year 2015 and secured more than $525 million for employees claiming discrimination in private sector and state and local government workplaces through voluntary resolutions and litigation.

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