On April 10, 2019, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a breakdown for the 76,418 charges filed against employers during fiscal year 2018 (which ended September 30, 2018) alleging workplace discrimination. Significantly, Florida employers receive the second most charges of discrimination at 6,617, which are more charges than were filed in California and New York, but less than those filed in Texas, which had 7,482 charges filed. The EEOC claims that for the fiscal year (FY), the EEOC resolved 90,558 charges and secured $505,000,000 for alleged victims of discrimination in the private and public sector. FY 2018 data indicates that retaliation claims continued to be the most frequently filed charge, followed by sex, disability and race. Of the 24,655 sex discrimination charges, 7,609 were charges of sexual harassment, an increase of 13.6% from FY 2017. It is not surprising that retaliation charges lead the way, since many charges claiming sex, race, age or disability discrimination also include a retaliation claim. Visit the EEOC website for more information.
The take away for employers is that there continues to be a steady stream of discrimination and retaliation charges filed against employers, therefore you should continue to be diligent in having strong and effective policies prohibiting any type of unlawful discrimination as well as retaliation, and training supervisors on the elements of the protected categories to minimize risk of the charges being filed alleging unlawful discrimination and protecting against retaliation claims.
William "Bill" Andrews
GrayRobinson, P.A.
50 North Laura Street, Suite 1100
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
P: 904.598.9929
F: 904.598.9109