On Wednesday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its enforcement and litigation statistics for fiscal year 2009 ending on September 30. This data shows that 93,277 workplace discrimination charges were filed, the second-highest total for the agency, although down from last year’s all-time record of 95,402 charges. Private sector charges alleging disability, religion and/or national origin discrimination reached record highs, while the most frequent charges filed in 2009 alleged discrimination based on race (36%), retaliation (36%), and sex (30%). According to an EEOC press release, the “near-historic” level of total discrimination charges could be due to a number of factors, including 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, and changes to the agency’s intake practices that cut down on the steps needed for an individual to file a charge.

The EEOC’s year-end data also shows that a total of 281 merit lawsuits were filed, resulting in $82.1 million in monetary relief for the plaintiffs. Total monetary relief obtained for claimants totaled $376 million, which includes benefits gained through administrative enforcement and mediation as well as through litigation.

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