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According to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)’s Annual Report, the agency filed 143 merit lawsuits against employers in 2023. That figure represents a 50% rise from fiscal year 2022. There’s no doubt about it: workplace discrimination cases are on the rise, and the EEOC is cracking down on employers.
Of these 143 cases, 98 were resolved. $22,609,162 was obtained in monetary relief as a result of the merit lawsuits, providing payments to some 971 individuals. Of the 98 resolved cases, the EEOC’s Office of the General Counsel was successful in pursuing their case in 89 cases—a 91% “win” rate.
With enforcement on the rise and the EEOC evidently largely successful in bringing suits against employers, businesses across the country are left to wonder: what is the reason for the uptick? And more importantly, what can we learn from the rise in recent discrimination cases in the workplace?
In this article, we’ll discuss the EEOC’s recent workplace discrimination cases, 2023 trends, how the cases break down, and what the spike in cases means for employers. We’ll also show you where to turn with questions about your organization’s own EEOC compliance measures—and how to ramp them up.
The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) is the U.S. federal agency that enforces much of the country’s workplace anti-discrimination and harassment legislation. The EEOC provides clarifying guidance on various laws passed by the U.S. government, receives and manages complaints from workers, and if necessary, investigates charges of discrimination and harassment.
An EEOC merit lawsuit is a legal action that the EEOC initiates after it has found reasonable cause to believe that an employer has violated a statute that the EEOC is responsible for enforcing. EEOC merit lawsuits are not initiated in all cases brought by employees. They are only initiated after an EEOC investigation has taken place, merit has been determined, and conciliation or settlement efforts between the parties (i.e., employer and employee(s)) were unsuccessful.
In an EEOC merit lawsuit, the EEOC will represent the employee(s) alleging violations of a statute in court. If found to be in violation of an EEOC-enforced statute, employers could be on the hook for significant costs, including backpay and punitive damages.
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The EEOC’s fiscal year 2023 merit lawsuit filings can be broken down by the statutes under which they were brought. These details tell us something about the issues that are most likely to lead to a merit lawsuit brought by the EEOC.
Here is the breakdown of the recent workplace discrimination cases:
Further, 57 of the 143 merit lawsuits, of 39.3%, “sought relief for multiple individuals,” meaning more than one employee or other individual alleged harm based on the actions of a single employer within the same merit lawsuit.
You may notice that the “breakdown” above tallies up to more than 143 merit lawsuits. This is because 14 recent workplace discrimination cases (9.8% of the 143) were what are known as “concurrent” cases. Concurrent cases are filed alleging the violation of more than one statute by an employer.
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We’ve discussed the statutes most commonly violated, but we can break down the fiscal year 2023 merit lawsuits even further by the basis on which these claims were asserted.
Here are the details:
The EEOC provides even greater detail about the 143 merit lawsuits by breaking them down according to when during the employee life cycle the story turned sour.
The EEOC reports that the most frequently raised issues in merit lawsuits were as follows:
The EEOC has acknowledged its increased activity, stating in a March 2024 press release that its “performance during FY 2023 reflects both an increased demand for its services and significant remedies for workers who suffered discrimination.”
During fiscal year 2023, the agency was certainly busy. Besides its pursuit of 143 merit lawsuits, it took many other significant actions, including the implementation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA protects workers from discrimination based on their pregnancy status, childbirth, and related medical conditions. In June 2023, the EEOC started accepting its first PWFA charges.
RELATED: EEOC Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: Understanding the Final Rule >>
The uptick of recent discrimination cases in the workplace is cause for concern for employers across America. But if there’s one thing employers can learn from workplace discrimination cases (2023 and beyond), it’s that ensuring compliance with the statutes enforced by the EEOC is critical.
The best way to tackle EEOC compliance is via a proactive approach with the guidance of experienced HR compliance experts. At Axcet HR, you’ll find a dedicated team or HR compliance and employee relations experts ready to evaluate your workplace policies, procedures, culture, and training processes. We’ll make improvement recommendations that are tailored to your unique industry, people, geographic locations, and more.
To learn more about how Axcet HR Solutions can help, schedule a conversation with our experts today.
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