EEOC Report Reveals Focus on Systemic Discrimination

Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released its annual Fiscal Year 2015 Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) on activities during the past fiscal year from October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015 that were designed to meet the priorities outlined in the EEOC Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for Fiscal Years 2012-2016.

According to the PAR, the EEOC continues to focus on alleged “systemic discrimination” where employment practices broadly affect an employer, industry, or wide geographic area. The EEOC completed 268 investigations of alleged systemic discrimination that obtained more than $33.5 million in remedies for victims of alleged systemic discrimination in fiscal year 2015.

The EEOC also reported that its administrative enforcement program obtained $356.6 million from claim resolutions, up over $60 million from the $296.1 million collected during fiscal year 2014. The EEOC also resolved 155 merits lawsuits in the federal district courts for a total recovery of $65.3 million, an increase of $42.8 million over the $22.5 million collected during fiscal year 2014.

In addition, the EEOC resolved 92,641 discrimination charges while receiving 89,385 new private sector bias charges during fiscal year 2015. Both figures show increases from fiscal year 2014, when the EEOC received 88,778 new charges while resolving 87,442 charges of discrimination. The report is available at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/upload/2015par.pdf.

This SEP objective of combating employment discrimination through strategic law enforcement reflects the EEOC’s primary mission of preventing unlawful employment discrimination through the use of administrative and litigation enforcement with regard to private employers, labor organizations, employment agencies, and state, and local government employers.

On April 25, 2012, the EEOC – the agency enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination – issued updated “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” The EEOC Guidance is available at http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/arrest_conviction.cfm.

ESR Helps Employers Comply with EEOC Enforcement Guidance

Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – ‘The Background Check Authority®’ – offers employers EEOC resources, blogs about the EEOC, and the whitepaper ‘Practical Steps Employers Can Take to Comply with EEOC Criminal Record Guidance.’ To learn more about ESR, please call toll free 888.999.4474 or visit https://www.esrcheck.com/.

© 2015 Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – Making copies or using of any part of the ESR News Blog or ESR website for any purpose other than your own personal use is prohibited unless written authorization is first obtained from ESR.