The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently released its FY 2023 Office of General Counsel (“OGC”) Annual Report reflecting the agency’s litigation efforts to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023.It shows that the agency doubled the number of lawsuits filed against employers.

The EEOC is responsible for enforcement of many federal employment laws, including: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022 (“PWFA”), the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”).

In FY 2023, the EEOC OGC filed 143 lawsuits against employers, an increase of more than 50% over FY 2022. Of the lawsuits filed, nearly all were in enforcement of two federal laws, with ninety-two containing alleged violations of Title VII, and forty-nine alleging employer violations of the ADA. The OGC’s statistics show that it resolved ninety-eight of the lawsuits, obtaining more than $22 million in monetary relief for 971 individuals, touting a successful outcome in more than 90% of all lawsuit resolutions.

The group of lawsuits alleging violations of Title VII covered a number of protected characteristics, including sex (50), race (24), religion (10), national origin (8), and color (3). Claims of retaliation continue to be the most frequently alleged Title VII violation, with fifty-six lawsuits filed by the EEOC including a claim of unlawful retaliation.

With the release of the EEOC’s litigation scorecard for FY 2023 showing a significant uptick in enforcement lawsuits, employers should be forewarned that the EEOC intends to use litigation to aggressively target workplace discrimination, bias and hate directed at racial and ethnic groups, LGBTQI+ individuals, and religious minorities and prioritizing protections for workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, including under the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

Bean, Kinney & Korman’s employment practice group works proactively with employers of all sizes, to craft a full range of employment policies and documents to meet the compliance challenges of all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including those enforced by the EEOC. If you have questions or need assistance with your company’s employment policies and practices, please contact Doug Taylor at (703) 525-4000 or rdougtaylor@beankinney.com or your current Bean, Kinney & Korman attorney.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not contain or convey legal advice. Consult a lawyer. Any views or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily the views of any client.