On Monday, December 16, 2013, the EEOC announced that it had obtained $372.1 million in relief from private companies during the 2013 fiscal year, which is a record in monetary benefits collected through enforcement actions.
According to the EEOC’s Performance and Accountability Report for fiscal year 2013, which ended September 30, 2013, this figure represents a $6.7 million increase over last year’s recovery total, which was also a record-breaking number. The EEOC said the figure includes benefits obtained for more than 70,522 people through administrative enforcement activities, which include litigation, mediation, settlement and conciliation.
In keeping with its strategic plan (which we discussed here), the EEOC focused on systemic matters during 2013. According to the EEOC, at the end of the fiscal year, there were 300 systemic investigations resulting in 63 settlements or conciliation agreements that recovered approximately $40 million.
The EEOC said that it received a total of 93,727 private sector charges of discrimination and was able to resolve a total of 97,252 charges.
The lesson for employers is clear. The EEOC is increasingly aggressive, and employers need to ensure that their policies and procedures are in full compliance with EEOC regulations for the 2014 calendar year.
