The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Tuesday that more discrimination claims were filed with the agency in 2010 than in any other year. According to an article in Business Insurance, there were 99,922 discrimination claims filed about private-sector jobs in 2010. The record amount of claims was 7.1 percent higher than 2009.
The EEOC said that claims increased in all areas of discrimination. The agency said factors causing the rise in claims could include the current economy, the public’s increased knowledge of the law and improved intake practices and outreach by the EEOC.
In November, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act was published in the Federal Register. Claims related to the newly implemented GINA were 0.2 percent of the total claims. According to Business Insurance, there were more employees claiming retaliation than discrimination based on race for the first time.
According to Business Insurance, sex discrimination claims were 29.1 percent of the total claims and Equal Pay Act claims were two percent of the total. Employees claiming age discrimination by employers made up 23.3 percent of the total filings, those claiming national origin discrimination were 11.3 percent of the total, and those claiming discrimination based on religion were 3.8 percent of the total.
Source:
Workplace discrimination charges set record: EEOC (Business Insurance)