Interpreting EEOC Statistics

Interpreting EEOC Statistics

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Interpreting EEOC Statistics

The Equal Employment Opportunity Center (EEOC) is a government agency established in order to investigate accusations of discrimination and make a finding of discrimination or no discrimination. If the EEOC finds the business is guilty of discrimination the first step is to attempt to negotiate a settlement and to outline what the business will need to prevent the problem in the future. If the business does not agree to the accusations they can go to court against the petitioner with the support of the EEOC. Not all investigations result in lawsuits or require a settlement but instead may just require the implementation of outreach, education and technical assistance programs.

The occurrence of sexual harassment complaints since 1997 has slowly decreased dropping by 4,500 cases by 2011. In 1997 there were over 15,000 cases and fourteen years later the number has dropped drastically and in 2011 there were a little over 11,000 cases (EEOC, 2012). The drop in cases continues with a slow drop in 1998 and 1999 but the discrimination complaints in 2000 were comparable to the complaints filed in 1997 (EEOC, 2012). In 2001 the number of cases began to lowly creep down with a dramatic drop in 2003 and then again in 2005. In both years the number of cases dropped by over 1,000 cases.

The outcomes of the case starting with 1997 around 40% of cases were settled with the complaint not receiving financial compensation for the discrimination they claim to have experienced. In 1997 only 1,118 of 15,889 were settled with 3,253 merits resolution. In the same year 808 cases were found to have reasonable cause while 7,172 were found not to have reasonable cause (EEOC, 2012). This shows that way than less than half of discrimination complaints are settled in factor of the complainant.

By 2000, the numbers of settlements for discrimination were higher than in 1997 with 1,676 complaints being settled but there was an even higher number of complaints considered without reasonable cause than 1997 with 7,370 cases. In 2011 there was the highest number of settlements despite the fact it is the lowest number of complaints filed in that year. In 2011 there were a little over 1,000 complaints but 1,367 cases were settled (EEOC, 2012). Similar to previous years the number of cases closed with over 50% of cases being found to have no reasonable cause. No reasonable cause simply means there is no founding of discrimination.

While the number of cases have steadily dropped since 1997 the amount being paid to victim of discrimination has seen very little drop and in fact has risen over the last 14 years. For example in 1997 there were 15,889 cases with the cases being settled or resolved in favor of the petitioner totaling up to 49 million dollars in settlements while in 2011 there were 11,364 cases with settlements totaling 52 million dollars (EEOC 2012). Despite the decrease in number of cases being filed there have been more cases settled in favor of the petitioner. What this means is there are more legitimate cases of discrimination in 2011 than in 1997.

The EEOC has investigated thousands of cases of discrimination since 1997 with more than half of these cases being settled in favor of the employer. The reason for this is overtime businesses have become more aware of their obligation to the employee and have taken the steps to ensure their employees receive the proper protections to avoid discrimination. Another reason for the drop in EEOC cases is because the workplace has become far more diverse making it far less common for people to be discriminated against. Blatant acts of discrimination in the workplace are in the 21st Century.

References

EEOC. (2012). Sexual Harassment Charges: EEOC & FEPAs Combined: FY 1997 - FY 2011.

Retrieved December 17, 2013 from

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/sexual_harassment.cfm