The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the "EEOC") receives charges of discrimination across the United States and collects data on the charges they receive. The first graphic below shows the number of discrimination charges filed with the EEOC since 1997, and the second shows the number of discrimination charges filed by category of discrimination. You can change the years you want to compare in the second graphic.
Thoughts on this table. This table is useful for understanding the volume of charges filed with the EEOC. Looking at the data on discrimination charges filed with the EEOC, there has been a decline in the number of charges filed with the EEOC, particularly since 2010 when the number of charges reached 99,922. We don't know if the trend will continue, though.
Thoughts on this table. This table shows how charges have developed by category of discrimination. Looking at the categories of discrimination, there is a general trend to more disability charges and a decline in charges based on race. About half of the decrease in charges based on race may be attributable to the growth in charges based on color, however, which may reflect the most recent US census figures that saw an increase in participants identifying themselves as multi-racial. The decline in the race category may be partially attributable to the increase in the color category of discrimination. The increase in retaliation as a charge indicates that people are more actively confronting discrimination in the workplace, because a retaliation charge indicates some action by an employee which led to the retaliation claim.
How we can help. We offer a Discrimination Claims Navigator, which helps you understand if you have a claim for discrimination under federal employment law in the US. The Discrimination Claims Navigator is the first product of PartnerVine Access, our initiative to promote access to justice.You can learn more about the Discrimination Claims Navigator by clicking on the video below.
If you'd like to see a list of employment discrimination resources by state in the US, see our article Employment Discrimination Resources.
Thanks to USA Facts for visualizing the EEOC data.
