According to EEOC information released on January 11, 2011, there were a record number of discrimination filings in the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2010. The number of filings approached 100,000, as economic challenges and high levels of unemployment boosted the number of filings.

The EEOC’s January 11 press release can be found here. The EEOC’s Enforcement and Litigation Statistics can be found here.

During the 2010 fiscal year, there were a total 99,922 charges filed, which represents an increase of about 7% over the number of filings in the 2009 fiscal year, and an increase of about 4.7% over the 2008 fiscal which previously had had the highest annual number of EEOC filings. The FY 2010 filings represent a 21% increase over FY 2007.

In the 2010 fiscal year filings, all major categories of charges increased (race, sex, national origin, religion, retaliation [all statutes], age, disability and equal pay act). During 2010, retaliation under all statutes was the most frequently alleged charge, for the first time exceeding race as the most frequent charge. Since the EEOC become operational in 1965 race consistently had been the most frequently alleged charge.

In addition to retaliation charges, another category of charges that has grown rapidly in recent years are charges of discrimination based on disability. There were 25,165 disability discrimination charges in fiscal 2010, which represents an increase of over 17% from fiscal year 2009 and an increase of nearly 42% over fiscal year 2007.

During the FY 2010, the EEOC filed 250 lawsuits, resolved 285 lawsuits and resolved over 104,000 private sector charges. According to its press release, the EEOC "secured more than $404 million in monetary benefits from employers" – the highest level of monetary relief ever obtained by the Commission through the administrative process.

A January 12, 2011 Wall Street Journal article describing the statistics can be found here. An Economix blog post discussion the question of whether these figures are the result of an increase in discrimination can be found here.

Today’s Cool Weblink of the Day: The Stanford Graduate School of Business has added a page to its website with a full list of its faculty’s various publications on corporate governance topics. What makes the page cool is that it includes links to powerpoint presentations that faculty members have prepared on a wide variety of governance topics (e.g., The Duties and Liabilties of Boards of Directors). The page can be found here.