EEOC Recovered Nearly $700M, Prevailed in 97% of Cases in FY 2024

As a finance professional, you can probably imagine the stress of an EEOC investigation and lawsuit. Two new reports from the agency show just how difficult things can get for employers.
For example, if your company was on the wrong end of an EEOC lawsuit in FY 2024, your odds of prevailing weren’t good, according to the Office of General Counsel’s (OGC) Annual Report. The OGC obtained a settlement or favorable judgment in 128 of the 132 suits resolved in FY 2024 – that’s a whopping 97% of its caseload!
What’s more, the EEOC’s 2024 Performance Report highlights the cost of noncompliance. Specifically, in FY 2024, the agency secured nearly $700 million for victims of alleged employment discrimination – the highest amount in recent history, the report notes.
A closer look at the data provides valuable insight for HR pros.
EEOC’s Monetary Relief Efforts
First things first: Let’s break down the ballpark $700 million that the EEOC secured for more than 20,000 individuals. This amount includes:
- Over $469.6 million for 13,516 victims of alleged employment discrimination in the private sector and state and local government workplaces through mediation, conciliation, and settlements during the administrative process.
- More than $190 million for 3,041 federal employees and applicants.
- Over $40.3 million for 4,304 individuals by way of litigation resolutions.
Handling Discrimination Charges and Complaints
In FY 2024, the EEOC received:
- 88,531 new discrimination charges, up 9.2% from FY 2023
- 248,255 inquiries in field offices, a 6.2% increase over the previous fiscal year
- 553,000 calls to the agency contact center, an almost 6% increase from FY 2023, and
- 90,000 emails, an increase of nearly 5% compared to FY 2023.
EEOC Lawsuits in FY 2024: A Deep Dive
In 10 Big Employment Law Trends to Watch This Year, we noted that a vast majority (92%) of survey respondents said settling employment law disputes before trial is important.
This makes a lot of sense if we consider that once an EEOC charge escalates to the lawsuit stage, the OGC almost always wins, as noted above. So we need to pay close attention to the litigation aspect of the report. Here’s what the data tells us.
Most Common Laws Invoked in EEOC Lawsuits
The OGC filed 111 merit lawsuits in FY 2024. Of those, 66 cases (59.5%) included a Title VII claim.
In fact, Title VII was the most commonly invoked statute, followed by the:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – 43.2%
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) – 6.3%
- Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) – 4.5%
- Equal Pay Act (EPA) – 1.8%, and
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) – 1.8%.
The percentages don’t add up to 100 because about 16% of the new suits filed included claims under more than one statute.
What EEOC Lawsuits Were Based On
Nearly half (46.8%) of the lawsuits from the period included sex-based claims, making it the most commonly alleged basis for suits filed in FY 2024.
Other asserted bases included:
- Disability – 43.2%
- Retaliation – 38.7%
- Race – 13.5%
- Age – 6.3%
- National origin – 5.4%
- Religion – 2.7%
Suits based on color and violation of GINA combined to make up just under 5% of allegations raised.
Most Commonly Raised Issues in New EEOC Suits
The EEOC report also breaks out the issues raised. The most commonly asserted issue in FY 2024: discharge/constructive discharge, which was raised in 72.1% of new suits filed.
Harassment came in at a distant second, appearing in 35.1% of the new suits filed. Other issues included:
- Reasonable accommodation – 33.6%
- Hiring – 18.9%
- Terms and conditions – 9%
- Prohibited medical inquiry/exam – 4.5%
- Recordkeeping – 4.5%
- Discipline – 2.7%
- Wages – 2.7%
- Forced accommodation – 1.8%
- Promotion – 1.8%
Key Takeaways: Partner With HR on Compliance Issues
Partnering with HR on compliance issues makes sense. Many HR professionals are often aware of the EEOC’s current areas of interest — here, Title VII, sex discrimination and discharge — and focus ongoing training efforts on those areas.
Hopefully, your company never faces an EEOC investigation, but it’s important to be prepared just in case that happens. Here’s help responding to an EEOC investigation, courtesy of employment attorney Michael Nader of the firm Ogletree Deakins.
If you need more info about the laws enforced by the EEOC or have questions about compliance with those laws in specific workplace situations, you can reach out to the EEOC’s small business liaisons in your area via email or phone.
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