EEOC sees increase in charges in FY2022

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finally issued its fiscal year (FY) 2022 performance report on March 14, 2023. The highlights of the report include the following.
Monies collected totaled $513.7M (up from $484M in FY2021) from private sector, state, and local employers for 33,298 individuals, of which $170.4M came from mediation, $39.7M from litigation, and $132M for federal employees.

New charges increased 20% to 73,485 from 61,331 in FY2021. The agency resolved 65,000 discrimination charges and currently has a backlog of 51,399 charges, an increase of 8,500 over FY2021.

Litigation included 91 lawsuits filed (of which 13 were systemic) and 96 lawsuits resolved (of which 10 were systemic cases).
The EEOC increased its workforce by 350 to close FY2023 with 2,187 employees.

The report didn’t include a breakdown of the types of charges filed in FY2022.

EEOC commissioner charges jump in FY2022
The EEOC commissioners filed 29 commissioner charges in FY2022, up from only three in FY2021. The unusually high number of charges comes as there is partisan gridlock among the EEOC commissioners. They are allowed to launch targeted charges on their own initiative requiring no consultation or approval from other commissioners. Of the 29 charges filed in 2022, 12 were filed by Republican EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas, while Chair Charlotte Burrows and Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels filed eight each.