The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Jan. 6th of this year that 93,277 workplace discrimination cases were filed with the federal agency nationwide during Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, the second highest level ever, and monetary relief obtained for victims totaled over $376 million. The EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said that the work of the commission was far from finished, noting the high numbers of cases. An article on the EEOC's website said, "Continuing a decade-long trend, the most frequently filed charges with the EEOC in FY 2009 were charges alleging discrimination based on race (36%), retaliation (36%), and sex-based discrimination (30%)."
According to the EEOC, the reasons for the near-record number of cases filed for the Fiscal Year 2009 could be many. The article mentioned the following as possible factors for the high discrimination cases last year:
- greater accessibility of the EEOC to the public
- economic conditions
- increased diversity and demographic shifts in the labor force
- employees’ greater awareness of their rights under the law
- changes to the agency’s intake practices that cut down on the steps needed for an individual to file a charge.
Whatever the reasons, this article reminded me of how much problems we can encounter in the workplace. People use their autonomy to make poor decisions and many times do not think of the affects they have on an organization. Hopefully, as the EEOC continues to monitor and resolve discrimination cases, there will be a downward trend in the number of cases.
Info found at www.eeoc.gov
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