Once again, retaliation in the workplace was the top discrimination-related charge that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received from employees and job applicants in fiscal year 2019, according to recently released data.
Such cases represented 53.8%, or 39,110, of the 72,675 charges received from Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019, according to the EEOC.
Retaliation has been the most frequently reported charge to the EEOC since 2009.
It is against the law, according to the commission, for employers to retaliate against applicants or employees who report employment discrimination, including harassment, to a manager; answer questions during an employer investigation of alleged harassment; refuse to follow orders that would result in discrimination; resist sexual advances or intervene to protect others; request accommodation for a disability or religious practice; or ask managers or co-workers about salary information to uncover potentially discriminatory wages.
Other discrimination-related charges filed, and the percentage of the total charges they represent:
- Disability: 24,238 (33.4%)
- Race: 23,976 (33%)
- Sex: 23,532 (32.4%)
- Age: 15,573 (21.4%)
- National origin: 7,009 (9.6%)
- Color: 3,415 (4.7%)
- Religion: 2,725 (3.7%)
- Equal Pay Act: 1,117 (1.5%)
- Genetic information: 209 (0.3%)
Percentages add up to more than 100% because some charges allege multiple bases.
The newly posted EEOC statistics also include a breakdown of charges by state.
