The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

EEOC Litigation Statistics, FY 1992 through FY 2003

The following statistics reflect lawsuits filed by the EEOC in court, and the resolution of those lawsuits. The lawsuits are filed under the various statutes enforced by the Commission:

Litigation Statistics, FY92 through FY03
FY 1992 FY 1993 FY 1994 FY 1995 FY 1996 FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003
Suits
All Suits Filed 447 481 425 373 193 330 411 464 328 430 364 393
Merits Suits1 347 398 357 328 167 299 371 437 290 385 332 361
Title VII 242 260 235 193 106 174 235 325 222 269 246 277
ADA2   3 34 81 38 79 79 51 23 62 41 46
ADEA 84 115 74 41 13 36 36 41 27 32 29 21
EPA 2 2 0 1 1 0 2 3 3 5 2 0
Concurrent 19 18 14 12 9 10 19 17 15 17 14 17
                       
Subpoena and Preliminary Relief Actions 100 83 68 45 26 31 40 27 38 45 32 32
                         
Resolutions
All Resolutions 626 427 469 338 296 245 331 349 438 360 373 378
Merits Suits3 532 362 408 319 278 214 295 319 405 319 345 347
Title VII 360 235 266 216 175 122 181 192 305 219 247 256
ADA   1 9 25 52 45 69 65 52 42 61 48
ADEA 130 99 109 61 35 35 35 41 35 34 20 28
EPA 11 2 3 2 0 0 1 0 4 6 3 2
Concurrent 31 25 21 15 16 12 9 21 9 18 14 13
             
Subpoena and Preliminary Relief Actions 94 65 61 19 18 31 36 30 33 41 28 31
                   
Monetary Benefits ($ in millions)4 71.1 36.4 39.6 18.9 50.8 114.7 95.5 98.4 49.8 51.2 52.8 148.7
Title VII 14.7 7 23.6 9 18.8 95.0 62.0 49.2 35.1 29.8 29.0 87.2
ADA   0.2 0.4 1.4 2.5 1.1 2.4 2.9 3.0 2.2 12.0 2.6
ADEA 55.5 26.6 0.2 8 10.5 18.0 29.5 42.5 11.2 3.1 1.4 57.8
EPA 0.2 0.1 0.04 0.2 0 0.3 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.02
Concurrent 0.7 2.5 0.5 0.3 19 0.3 0.9 3.5 0.3 15.8 10.3 1.2

1 Beginning in FY 2002, suits to enforce administrative settlements are also included.
2 The employment discrimination provisions of the ADA became effective in July 1992.
3 Beginning in FY 2002, suits to enforce administrative settlements are included.
4 Includes benefits based on direct suits and interventions.

Definitions

Merits suits include direct suits and interventions alleging violations of the substantive provisions of the Commission's statutes and suits to enforce administrative settlements.

Intervention is where the EEOC joins a lawsuit that has been filed by a private plaintiff.

Subpoena enforcement actions are filed during the course of the investigation of a charge of discrimination where the Respondent refuses to provide information relevant to the charge.

Concurrent refers to those lawsuits in which claims of discrimination are alleged under more than one statute, e.g., Title VII and EPA.

Suits to enforce administrative settlements involve breaches by Defendants of agreements with EEOC to settle charges during the administrative process.

This page was last modified on August 16, 2004.

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