The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

EEOC Litigation Statistics, FY 1997 through FY 2008

The table below reflects EEOC enforcement suits filed and resolved in the federal district courts over the past ten years. The table divides the suits by the various statutes enforced by the EEOC and provides aggregate data on monetary relief obtained. Note that many EEOC suits are brought on behalf of multiple aggrieved individuals. The lawsuits are filed under the various statutes enforced by the Commission:

FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008
Suits
All Suits Filed 332 414 465 329 428 370 400 421 416 403 362 325
Merits Suits 300 374 438 292 388 342 366 378 381 371 336 290
Suits with Title VII Claims 182 254 341 236 289 268 298 297 295 294 268 224
Suits with ADA Claims 83 87 55 29 66 44 49 46 49 42 46 37
Suits with ADEA Claims 42 44 47 33 42 39 27 46 44 50 32 38
Suits with EPA Claims 4 10 9 9 14 12 12 5 13 10 7 0
Suits filed under multiple statutes1 11 19 13 14 19 19 19 14 17 22 16 9
Subpoena and Preliminary Relief Actions 32 40 27 37 40 28 34 43 35 32 26 35
Resolutions
All Resolutions 243 331 350 440 362 381 381 380 378 418 387 366
Merits Suits 214 295 320 407 321 351 351 346 338 383 364 339
Suits with Title VII Claims 132 189 211 315 232 266 275 277 259 295 297 265
Suits with ADA Claims 49 73 74 53 48 65 50 43 41 50 40 47
Suits with ADEA Claims 38 38 51 41 39 26 35 34 45 50 35 41
Suits with EPA Claims 7 4 7 6 15 9 13 9 12 8 14 3
Suits filed under multiple statutes 12 9 22 8 12 15 21 14 18 17 18 16
Subpoena and Preliminary Relief Actions 29 36 30 33 41 30 30 34 40 35 23 27
Monetary Benefits ($ in millions)2 114.7 95.6 98.7 52.2 49.8 56.2 146.6 168.6 104.8 44.3 54.8 102.2
Title VII 95.0 62.0 49.2 35.0 33.6 29.2 85.1 158.5 98.0 34.3 38.9 65.6
ADA 1.1 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.3 15.1 2.3 2.5 3.4 2.8 2.4 3.6
ADEA 18.0 29.8 42.8 13.8 3.1 1.4 57.8 5.4 2.4 5.1 3.1 30.3
EPA 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.1
Suits filed under multiple statutes3 0.5 1.0 3.8 0.4 10.7 10.3 1.5 2.3 1.0 2.1 10.2 1.7

1 Suits filed under multiple statutes are also included in the tally of suits filed under the particular statutes.
2 The sum of the statute benefits in some years will be less than total benefits for the year due to rounding.
3 Monetary benefits recovered in suits filed under multiple statutes are counted separately and are not included in the tally of suits filed under any particular statute.

Note that to improve the clarity and completeness of the data on our litigation activities, we have changed the format for presenting the count of cases filed and resolved by statute. Previously, cases were included in a statute's count only if that statute was the only statute involved. Suits filed under multiple statutes were listed in a separate "concurrent" category. The new format includes suits under each statute alleged, resulting in some suits being counted in more than one statute. There is no longer a concurrent category.

In addition, recent data validation efforts have caused changes in some of the counts, and in the annual amounts of monetary benefits.

Historical data

Definitions

Merits suits include direct suits and interventions alleging violations of the substantive provisions of the statutes enforced by the Commission 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.

Suits to enforce administrative settlements involve a Respondent's breach of an agreement with the EEOC to settle a charge during the administrative process.

This page was last modified on March 11, 2009.

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