48 | EEOC-INITIATED LITIGATION: 2024 EDITION ©2024 Seyfarth Shaw LLP The bar graph below represents the types of charges filed with the EEOC between fiscal years 2018-2022. As this graph demonstrates, the amount of disability, race, and sex-based discrimination charges have remained relatively steady over the past five years. However, one type of charge that saw a notable decline in FY 2022 was age discrimination. While ADEA charges typically encompass about 9-10% of annual EEOC charges, they only accounted for 7% of total charges in FY 2022 and experienced a year-over-year decrease of approximately 1,500 charges. On the other hand, the EEOC experienced a striking increase in religious discrimination charges in FY 2022. In fact, American workers filed more religious-based EEOC charges in FY 2022 than ever before, lodging 13,814 such charges during the FY. This represented an eye-popping spike of over 600% compared to FY 2021, in which the EEOC received only 2,111 religious discrimination charges. This spike is a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the EEOC’s own website notes that the increase in these charges is related to COVID-19 vaccine mandates imposed by governments and employers in FY 2022. 2022 2021 2020 11,500 25,004 955 24,430 5,500 2,273 20,992 13,814 37,898 19,805 14,183 24,324 980 24,221 6,377 2,698 22,064 2,404 37,632 21,398 12,965 22,843 885 21,270 6,213 2,261 20,908 2,111 34,332 18,762 Age Disability Equal Pay Harassment National Origin Pregnancy Race Religion Retaliation Sex EEOC Charges by Basis FY 2020-2022
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