EEOC Discrimination Lawsuit Statistics Show Little Change

When you browse the statistics provided by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about discrimination lawsuits, you find that the numbers have not changed much from 1997 to 2011. The most recent statistics from the EEOC were released and then verified in April of this year.

To get a feel for the statistics, in 1997, there were 332 lawsuits filed that reached the federal courts. Ten years later, in 2007, there were 362 filed. Then, from 2008 to 2011, the numbers dropped below 350 filed per year. There were 325 filed in 2008, 314 filed in 2009, 271 filed in 2010, and 300 filed in 2011.

In regards to lawsuits filed involving the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), the numbers hit 83 in 1997 and then dropped off immensely in 2007 and 2008, hitting lows of 46 and 37. In 2009, the amount of lawsuits filed hit 76. In 2010, the numbers dropped to 41 and then jumped again in 2011 to 80.

The type of suits filed that had the highest numbers were those involving Merits Suits, which are federal discrimination lawsuits. In 1997, there were 300 of these suits filed. Then, in 2007, there 336 of these lawsuits filed. From 2008 to 2011, there were no less than 250 of these lawsuits filed each year.

Lawsuits involving equal pay discrimination claims were the type that saw the fewest filed, according to the statistics from the EEOC. There were four of these suits filed in 1997, seven in 2007, zero in 2008, and then two per year from 2009 to 2011.

The money paid out in these lawsuits ranges greatly from year-to-year and from type of lawsuit to type of lawsuit. In 1997, there was $95 million paid out in lawsuits related to Title VII, which deals with discrimination based on race, religion, sex, color, and national origin. In 2011, that amount dropped to $54.3 million.

Even though the number of lawsuits filed stating ADA discrimination varied over the past handful of years, the amount of money paid out has increased dramatically. In 1997, just $1.1 million was paid out in those ADA lawsuits. From 2007 to 2009, the amount paid out ranged from $2.4 million to $9.5 million. Then, in 2010, the payout dropped to $2.9 million. But, in 2011, the amount of money paid out increased to $27.1 million.

Since there were so few lawsuits filed with claims about the EPA, the Equal Pay Act, the amount of money paid out was incredibly low or non-existent. There was no money paid out in 1997, 2009, 2010, and 2011. In 2007, there was $0.2 million paid out for lawsuits in this category. In 2008, there was $0.1 million paid out for these lawsuits.

As we can see from these statistics, there is no rhyme or reason to how the lawsuits are filed each year, which category they are filed in, or how much money is paid out for the lawsuits.