Friday, January 07, 2011
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is charged with the enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as other statutory and regulatory enforcement efforts. As such, the EEOC is a significant player in most organization’s human capital management and operations as may be seen with the Commission’s press release on November 23, 2010.
In that press release, the EEOC noted that it had received the highest number of complaints within a single year in its 45-year history, while increasing its backlogged cases by less than one percent. The Commission acknowledged that this feat was accomplished due to the “agency … making progress in rebuilding its capacity to enforce”. The EEOC reported that for the fiscal year 2010, 86,338 pending complaints were on its books awaiting processing in 2011. The Commission also reported 99,922 new charges were filed in 2010 and that a total of $319 million in awards had been secured for individuals.
How is possible that after 45 years in the enforcement business the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission still has charges being filed against employers by employees. Have organizations not been training their managers on compliance? Is it possible that organizations have not taken heed of the thousands of cohort businesses who have faced off with the EEOC and lost? As noted in the EEOC press release on November 23, 2010, the Commission is busy “rebuilding its capacity to enforce”. Moreover, enforcement means fines, legal fees, consent degrees, court costs, loss of public goodwill, and organizational management terminations.
Any organization which chooses to disregard the EEOC and the matrix of anti-discrination laws it is charged to enforce should consider the financial costs associated with making such as decision. Consider just the partial listing from EEOC’s website of actions in December 2010 alone! Keep in mind these monetary awards listed here do not include the thousands of dollars attorney fees and other costs associated with defining against such actions.
• Wilmington Subway Operator to Pay $55,000 to Resolve Sexual Harassment
• Apparel Retailer Finish Line Sued by EEOC for Disability Discrimination
• Crothall Healthcare to Pay $88,000 to Settle EEOC Pregnancy Discrimination Suit
• Omnicare Pays $195,000 Ending EEOC Sex Harassment Case
• CasaBlanca ResortSettles Age Bias Suit By EEOC For $60,000
• EEOC Files Hiring Discrimination Lawsuit Against Kaplan Higher Education Corp.
• Wisconsin Staffing, Inc. Will Pay $20,000 Ending EEOC Race Discrimination Suit
• United Airlines Settles EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit
• Home Instead Senior Care to Pay $150,000 to Settle EEOC Race Bias Suit
• Patton Archery Settles EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
• Securitas to Pay $65,000 to Settle EEOC Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit
• Denver Hotel Company To Pay $105,000 to Settle EEOC Sex Discrimination Suit
• Sahara Hotel To Pay $100,000 To Settle EEOC National Origin Harassment Suit
• Fleming’s Pays $248,750 To Men In EEOC Same-Sex Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
• Captain’s Galley Sued By EEOC For Sexual Harassment And Retaliation
• Akal Security Pays $1.62 Million To Settle EEOC Pregnancy Discrimination Claims
Keep in mind these monetary awards listed above do not include the thousands of dollars attorney fees and other costs associated with defining against such actions. Nor does the above take into considerations the loss of community goodwill, the increased likelihood that employees will feel emboldened and take future actions. and other employee relations.
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