May 8th, 2019

EEOC Annual Discrimination Report

Each year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) publishes a summary and breakdown of the types of workplace discrimination charges received by the agency (based on a Fiscal Year ending September 30, 2018). Below are the highlight’s from this year’s report.

Retaliation continues to be the most frequently filed charge filed with the agency, followed by sex, disability and race. The EEOC also received 7,609 sexual harassment charges – a 13.6% increase over 2017. The agency attributes this uptick to the #MeToo movement, stating “…we cannot look back on last year without noting the significant impact of the #MeToo movement in the number of sexual harassment and retaliation charges filed with the agency.”  This trend is likely to continue into future years.

The top ten charges filed with the EEOC in 2018 are as follows:

  1. Retaliation: 39,469 (51.6%)
  2. Sex: 24,655 (32.3%)
  3. Disability: 24,605 (32.2%)
  4. Race: 24,600 (32.2%)
  5. Age: 16,911 (22.1%)
  6. National Origin: 7,106 (9.3%)
  7. Color: 3,166 (4.1%)
  8. Religion: 2,859 (3.7%)
  9. Equal Pay Act: 1,066 (1.4%)
  10. Genetic Information: 220 (.3%)

Notably, these percentages add up to more than 100 percent due to the fact that some charges allege multiple bases. Of these, Pennsylvania accounted for 5.8% of total U.S. charges (4,463 total charges)

Overall, it was a very busy year for the EEOC. Its legal staff filed 199 merits lawsuits alleging discrimination in fiscal year 2018, consisting of 117 individual suits, 45 suits involving multiple victims or discriminatory policies, and 37 of which were systemic discrimination cases. At the end of the fiscal year, the EEOC had 302 cases on its active docket. The EEOC achieved a successful outcome in 95.7% of all district court resolutions.


Attorney Graig Schultz represents businesses in employment litigation matters, appearing before state and federal courts as well as the EEOC. 

The content found in this resource is for informational reference use only and is not considered legal advice. Laws at all levels of government change frequently and the information found here may be or become outdated. It is recommended to consult your attorney for the most up-to-date information regarding current laws and legal matters.