WASHINGTON - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported significant increases in its outreach efforts and enforcement actions to prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination during fiscal year 2018, which ended Sept. 30. The EEOC detailed its accomplishments in its annual Performance and Accountability Report published on Nov. 15.
As noted last week, the EEOC's fiscal year 2018 highlights include:
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The launch of a nationwide online inquiry and appointment system as part of the EEOC's Public Portal resulted in a 30 percent increase in inquiries and over 40,000 intake interviews.
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The EEOC's outreach programs reached 398,650 individuals, providing them with information about employment discrimination and their rights and responsibilities in the workplace. To address persistent workplace harassment, the EEOC conducted more than 300 Respectful Workplaces trainings that reached over 9,800 employees and supervisors in the private, public and federal sectors.
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The EEOC secured approximately $505 million and other relief for over 67,860 victims of discrimination in the workplace. The EEOC's legal staff resolved 141 merit lawsuits, filed 199 more in FY 2018, and filed 29 amicus curiae briefs on significant legal issues in employment discrimination cases.
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The EEOC also made significant progress in reducing its backlogs, reporting a 19.5 percent reduction in its private sector charge backlog, a 19.4 percent reduction in the backlog of federal employee appeals, an 8.6 percent reduction in the backlog of federal employee hearings, and a 7.6 percent reduction in the backlog of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
The EEOC's fiscal year 2018 Performance and Accountability Report is posted on the agency's website at https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/upload/2018par.pdf . Comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics for fiscal year 2018 will be available on the agency's website later in fiscal year 2019.
