EEOC Hits Five-Year High with Merit Lawsuits

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has significantly increased its litigation filings for fiscal year 2023. Christopher DeGroff and Andrew Scroggins of the law firm Seyfarth, writing on the firm’s Class Action Blog, call the 144 initiations “jaw-dropping.” They note that this represents a five-year high in EEOC merit lawsuits.

The EEOC was litigious under the Obama administration, sluggish under Trump, and received a hefty budget increase since Biden took over. Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal wasn’t confirmed until July 2023, giving the Agency three Democratic Commissioners.

After a slow start, 13 lawsuits were filed in March 2023, well above the norm for a typical year. May saw 16 suits filed, the busiest non-September filing month since FY 2019, and ended with 13 lawsuits in August and 71 lawsuits more in September.

Thirty-two non-systemic class suits seeking relief for multiple harmed parties and 86 suits seeking relief for individuals were filed. The Commission primarily alleged claims under Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also filed 13 lawsuits under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, an increase from the last two years. Filings under the Equal Pay Act decreased slightly year-over-year. Pregnancy Discrimination Act filings were about the same.

The Commission’s east coast offices were its most active, led by Philadelphia which more than tripled its filing activity last year.  District Offices in New York, Charlotte, and Miami were also among the busiest Districts, filing 10, 9, and 9 suits, respectively. Chicago had 13 merits filings. The western offices, typically very active, filed fewer suits than usual. Los Angeles filed 10, Phoenix 8, and San Francisco 5.

The EEOC also continued a trend that began last year, filing suits over alleged failure to accommodate mental impairments. This year, that included suits related to individuals with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.