2020 EEOC Roundup –
What Employers Need to Know About the 2020 EEOC Charges Statistics and Insights Into What Employers Can Expect in 2021 By KATIE BAYT and JIM PLUNKETT
As 2021 unfolds, employers might benefit from a glimpse into the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)—where it has been and where it is going. Beginning with a snapshot of the EEOC’s own fiscal year (FY) 2020 Enforcement and Litigation Statistics, which the agency released on February 26, 2021, our analysis of the data provides employers with a granular view into the agency’s enforcement efforts during the past year and offers some insights into what employers can expect going forward.
The breakdown, in descending order, of the frequency of claims filed in FY2020 are as follows: • Retaliation: 37,632 claims (55.8 percent of charges filed) • Disability: 24,324 (36.1 percent of charges filed) • Race: 22,064 (32.7 percent of charges filed) • Sex: 21,398 (31.7 percent of charges filed) • Age: 14,183 (21.0 percent of charges filed) • National Origin: 6,377 (9.5 percent of charges filed) • Color: 3,562 (5.35 percent of charges filed) • Religion: 2,404 (3.6 percent of charges filed) • Equal Pay Act: 980 (1.5 percent of charges filed) • Genetic Information: 440 (0.7 percent of charges filed)
Seven Things to Know about Charges in 2020 1. Downward Trend in Number of Charges FY2020 saw the lowest number of charges received from workers in more than two decades. The agency received 67,448 charges—less than the 72,675 charges the agency received in FY2019 and continuing the steady downward trend since 2017 in the numbers of discrimination charges filed with the EEOC.
2. Monetary Resolution of Charges The agency touted securing $439.2 million for private sector claimants, including approximately $333.2 million through mediation, conciliation, and settlements of charges, and $106 million through litigation in FY2020, significantly overshadowing the $385 million it secured for claimants in FY2019 and $407 million in FY2018. Despite increased recovery overall, monetary resolutions of charges decreased by $13.4 million, from $346.6 million in FY2019 down to $333.2 million.
3. Most Frequently Filed Claims In FY2020, retaliation continued to be the most frequently filed claim included in charges with the EEOC—an astounding 55.8 percent of all charges filed included a retaliation claim, and it does not appear that trend will change any time soon. Categories of claims that showed a slight increase in frequency from FY2019 were disability and color discrimination, while genetic information claims saw over a two-fold increase from the prior year. Otherwise, the remaining categories all saw slight decreases from FY2019. 28
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4. Hot Topics While COVID-19 significantly affected 2020 in many ways, the EEOC’s fiscal year 2020 statistics (which ran from October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020) only encompassed data from approximately seven months of the pandemic. Recently, EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows, newly appointed by President Joe Biden, emphasized her view that the pandemic is not only a health and economic crisis, but also a civil rights crisis. As noted above, during FY2020 claims of disability discrimination saw a small uptick in frequency as compared to FY2019, while genetic information claims saw a considerable increase. Charges that included claims of discrimination based on color also increased slightly. On the other hand, national origin and race discrimination claims showed a slight decrease in frequency from FY2019 despite concerns related to discrimination against Asian Americans and people of Asian descent in the workplace during the pandemic and the larger context of social justice issues that came to the forefront during 2020. The
