The EEOC’s recently released 2013 charge statistics show the agency received 5,685 fewer charges in 2013 than it did in 2012. This more than 5% reduction is somewhat surprising after three years of near flat charge filings.
Charges were down slightly for race, national origin, religion, and disability discrimination claims and more markedly for sex discrimination claims (-8.8%) and age discrimination claims (-6.4%). The only major area where the EEOC saw more charges in 2013 was retaliation claims (+1.8%).
While it’s difficult to draw conclusions from a single year’s data, the increase in retaliation claims is a good reminder of the importance of how an employer responds to a complaint of discrimination or harassment.
The Employment Lawyers 