EEOC Recovers Record $420 Million for Victims of Employment Discrimination

The EEOC has released its fiscal year 2004 enforcement statistics showing that the agency recovered a record $420 million in relief last year for thousands of people filing charges of employment discrimination.

The EEOC received 79,432 charges of discrimination against employers. The average charge processing time was 165 days, and the pending inventory of charges at the end of the year was 29,966. The agency resolved 85,259 charges, 19.5 percent of which were merit resolutions.

Of the charges filed in FY 2004, 27,696 (35%) alleged race discrimination; 24,249 (30.5%) alleged sex discrimination; 8,361 (10.5%) alleged national origin discrimination; and 2,466 (3.1%) alleged discrimination on account of religion.

Mediation remains a focus for the EEOC, as a record 8,086 charges were resolved through the process, resulting in $112 million in monetary benefits. The total recovered through prelitigation resolutions (conciliation, mediation, and other administrative settlements) was $251 million. Litigation accounted for the remaining $168 million.

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