Final enforcement and litigation statistics released by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission show a notable increase in discrimination charges filed with the EEOC during fiscal year 2023. (FY 2023 covers October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023.)
The EEOC received 81,055 discrimination charges in FY 2023, a 10% increase from the year before and the highest number of charges filed since FY 2017.
As has been the case for 16 years, unlawful retaliation was the most common allegation, cited in nearly 60% of charges. The next most common claim was unlawful harassment, which appears in nearly 40% of charge filings. Disability discrimination, race discrimination, and sex discrimination were grouped together as the next most frequent alleged bases of discrimination.
Litigation activity statistics show that EEOC lawyers filed 143 lawsuits on the merits in FY 2023, a substantial increase from the 91 filed the previous year. Most of these lawsuits alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or both.
In FY 2023, the EEOC obtained $440.5 million in monetary benefits on behalf of charging parties through pre-litigation administrative resolutions, a $98.4 million increase from FY 2022.