Job Bias Complaints Up 9 Percent
Complaints of job discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rose 9 percent last year, the highest one-year increase since 1993.
The agency received 82,792 private sector discrimination charges, the most filed since 2002, the Associated Press reports.
There were 30,510 complaints of race discrimination, amounting to 37 percent of all filings, making it the largest category of complaints. The next largest category was retaliation, which edged out sex discrimination for the first time.
Race discrimination complaints increased by 12 percent, retaliation complaints by 18 percent, and gender bias by 7 percent, Business Insurance reports.
There were fewer complaints alleging age and disability discrimination, making them the fourth and fifth largest categories, but the number of complaints filed in these areas increased by 15 percent and 14 percent respectively, according to figures in an EEOC press release.
Economist Marc Bendick told AP the figures aren’t all that alarming and may be a random fluctuation. He also noted that bias complaints can be expected to increase as the economy suffers, throwing more people out of work.
