The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) litigation for the 2024 fiscal year came to an end on September 30, 2024, and the EEOC recently issued a press release detailing EEOC’s litigation work for the year. The EEOC announces that in the fiscal year 2024, it filed 110 lawsuits involving unlawful employment discrimination.  EEOC General Counsel Karla Gilbride stated in the press release, “Litigation is only one tool in the EEOC’s toolbox for achieving its mission of preventing and remedying employment discrimination, but it is a tool we will continue to deploy strategically to maximize our impact.”

EEOC Litigation by the Numbers

The EEOC provided a breakdown of cases based on the laws that were allegedly violated. The 110 lawsuits are broken down as follows:

• 13 new systemic cases involving a pattern, practice, or policy of discrimination
• 48 cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Over 40 cases alleging retaliation under various statutes enforced by the EEOC
• 7 cases under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• 5 cases under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)
• 5 sexual harassment cases on behalf of teenage workers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
• 4 cases under Title VII alleging sex discrimination based on sexual orientation
• 3 cases under Title VII alleging sex discrimination based on gender identity

In addition to the lawsuits listed above, the EEOC also filed 18 suits for non-compliance with mandatory federal reporting requirements (EEO-1 Reports) as well as one lawsuit alleging breach of a conciliation agreement.

Focus on Enforcement of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

One of the EEOC’s focuses this last fiscal year was on enforcing the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which went into effect on June 27, 2023. The PWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless the accommodation will cause an undue hardship on the employer.  The EEOC’s lawsuits that arose out of this law, allege that employers failed to provide reasonable accommodation for employees who were entitled to them and that employers often discharged employees due to their need for a reasonable accommodation.

Rise in Litigation of Americans with Disabilities Act Claims

This year the EEOC also continued to aggressively focus on enforcing the ADA. Almost half of all litigation cases filed by the EEOC in fiscal year 2024 involved workers with disabilities and alleged violations of the ADA. Numerous ADA cases filed in the fiscal year challenged employer qualification standards or other inflexible policies, such as requiring employees to work with no medical restrictions without consideration of possible accommodations, or those assessing points for absences related to an employee’s disability.

Litigation of Systemic Discrimination

Another sizeable category of cases that were filed by the EEOC in the last fiscal year was systemic litigation cases. The EEOC defines systemic cases as “pattern or practice, policy and/or class cases where the discrimination has a broad impact on an industry, profession, company or geographic location.” The EEOC filed 13 new cases in this fiscal year bringing the total systemic litigation cases currently active to 45 cases.

The litigation for this fiscal year was consistent with the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plans for Fiscal Years 2024-2028. The Strategic Enforcement Plan focuses on addressing persistent forms of workplace discrimination, which includes recruitment and hiring discrimination and systemic harassment, as well as emerging issues and vulnerable populations. The EEOC also prioritized geographic diversity in the fiscal year by filing cases in parts of the United States that were geographically distant from any EEOC district office. This included South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

How Can Employers Protect themselves against EEOC Litigation?

Employers can take steps to protect themselves against claims. If an employer believes there may be systemic discrimination or harassment ongoing in the workplace or feels unequipped to handle investigating an employee complaint, an employer can always bring in an outside investigator to conduct an internal investigation for the company.

This will ensure that the investigation is conducted correctly and the investigator can provide the employer with recommendations on how to properly respond to a complaint and how to correct unlawful behavior in the workplace.

Employers need to ensure that all employees undergo regular training. It is recommended that all employees go through harassment and discrimination training at least once a year. Managers also need to be regularly trained on their obligations under company policies as well as state and federal laws. Also, it is always good to remember that HR professionals should also go through periodic training to make sure they are up to date on discrimination and other laws in the workplace.

A best practice is to have the company handbook reviewed on an annual basis. Employers should make sure that all policies are up to date with current laws and should also make sure that all policies are clear and easy to understand for all employees.

Processes and procedures for handling and resolving discrimination and harassment issues should be reviewed regularly. Employers should review these procedures to ensure that the company has a consistent and effective way of handling these types of issues. Failure to have a consistent procedure for handling these issues and complaints can open up a company to additional liability.

Managers and supervisors should be well-trained in these processes and procedures as well. Additionally, there should be consistent and thorough discipline for any individual who may be discriminating against colleagues, but also for individuals such as managers, who fail to enforce company harassment, anti-retaliation, and anti-discrimination policies.