DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS HIT

RECORD LEVELS

Figures released last month by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) show that the number of bias claims filed last year hit record levels.  According to the EEOC report, 95,402 workplace discrimination charges were filed during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, up from 82,792 claims from the previous fiscal year or an increase of 15%.  According to the EEOC's acting chairman, Stuart J. Ishimaru, "the EEOC has not seen an increase of this magnitude in charges filed for many years." 

In fact, according to a recent article from MSNBC, EEOC spokesperson David Grinberg stated that this is the highest level of claims since the agency opened in 1965.  Claims in every category (i.e. race, sex, national origin, religion, retaliation, age, disability and equal pay) saw increases.  However, according to the EEOC, charges based on age and retaliation saw the largest annual increases.  The EEOC stated that the surge in filings may be due to a multiple of factors, "including economic conditions, increased diversity and demographic shifts in the labor force, employees' greater awareness of the law, EEOC's focus on systemic litigation, and changes to EEOC's intake practices." 

SOME STEPS TO AVOID A DISCRIMINATION CLAIM:

While not an exhaustive list, below are some practical steps you can take that may help you to defend your company in a costly discrimination lawsuit:

(1)  Document everything, especially all disciplinary actions.  Be sure to have witnesses and employees sign acknowledgement of receipt forms.

(2)  Be consistent.  Provide and apply the same company rules and regulations to all of your employees regardless of sex, race etc. 

(3)  Watch your language.  Telling off color jokes, whether in the office, the factory floor or through email, is inappropriate workplace behavior. Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which effectively created the EEOC) is not a "civility code," jokes, derogatory comments and other statements that may never have been intended in the way perceived have been used successfully in litigation by discrimination plaintiffs.