Tag: EEOC task force

November 1, 2018

EEOC: 2018 Sexual Harassment Data Even Worse

On October 31, 2018, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported final data on fiscal-year 2018 sexual harassment charges. The EEOC had issued preliminary numbers for its fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, earlier in October. The new figures show an even greater uptick in sexual harassment cases.

[Click for more on the EEOC’s preliminary 2018 sexual harassment data report.]

Final FY 2018 Sexual Harassment Statistics

The EEOC is now reporting a 13.6% increase in sexual harassment charges versus FY 2017. Based on prior-year data, this equates to approximately 7,632 sexual harassment cases filed between October 2017 and September 2018.

Initially, the EEOC reported a 12% rise in these charges.

Any meaningful increase in sexual harassment charges is notable. As shown in the chart below, there had been a consistent decline in such cases over the past decade.

Ironically, the EEOC’s 2018 fiscal year began right at the beginning of the #MeToo movement. Although the statistics do not necessarily prove causation, the circumstances strongly imply a connection.

The EEOC also disclosed that hits on its sexual harassment webpage doubled over the past year.

EEOC Calls for “Holistic Approach” to Prevent Harassment

The EEOC released the updated statistics at a public meeting entitled “Revamping Workplace Culture to Prevent Harassment.” The meeting was held at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“Leadership and accountability set the tone and the expectation that harassment will not be tolerated in a workplace,” said Victoria A. Lipnic, Acting Chair. “Over the past year, we have seen far too many examples of significant gaps in both areas. Our witnesses today stressed how both leadership and accountability must also be driven throughout an organization from the line employees, to the supervisors, to the CEO, and to the Board.”

EEOC Commissioner Chai R. Feldblum co-chairs the agency’s Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. She added that “No one element, alone, will suffice. Instead, it takes a holistic effort that must start at the top with strong and committed leadership.”

Several witnesses representing various constituencies presented at the October 31, 2018 public meeting. These included Alejandra Valles, Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU United Service Workers West; Anne Wallestad, president and CEO of BoardSource; and Professor Christine Porath of Georgetown University.

The EEOC will also accept public comments into the record of the meeting for 15 days.

Additional information about the public meeting is available here.

An Issue We Can’t Ignore

The latest reports from the EEOC only underscore what has already become evident. Our workplaces are not yet free from sexual harassment and employees are coming forward more often.

Employers must acknowledge at least their legal obligation to prevent and redress incidents of sexual harassment. Failing to do so can have a devastating impact on your company.

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October 6, 2018

EEOC Releases 2018 Sexual Harassment Statistics

On October 4, 2018, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its preliminary fiscal year 2018 sexual harassment statistics. The agency’s announcement reinforces its strong stance against all forms of workplace harassment in response to the #MeToo movement.

EEOC charges alleging sexual harassment increased by more than 12% from fiscal year 2017. EEOC sexual harassment lawsuits also increased by more than 50%.

2017 Sexual Harassment Statistics

Based on final sexual harassment statistics for fiscal year 2017, the number of charges alleging sexual harassment had declined compared to the year before.

In FY 2017, the EEOC received 6,696 charges alleging sexual harassment. It obtained $46.3 million on behalf of sexual harassment victims.

Click here for more on FY 2017 EEOC data.

FY 2018

The 12% increase this year indicates that employees filed approximately 7,500 sexual harassment charges in FY 2018. That would represent the highest level since 2012.

During the fiscal year ending September 2018, the EEOC filed 66 harassment lawsuits. 41 of those included allegations of sexual harassment. These lawsuits involve a wide variety of employers, including those in the healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, and customer service industries.

Between litigation and administrative enforcement, the EEOC recovered nearly $70 million for employees alleging sexual harassment.

[Update: The EEOC has finalized these statistics. Click here to find out what changed.]

Respectful Workplaces

In its October 4, 2018 press release, the EEOC also discussed the “Respectful Workplaces” training program that it launched last year. This program “teaches skills for employees and supervisors to promote and contribute to respect in the workplace.”

Over 9,000 workers in both the public and private sectors participated in the training during the 2018 fiscal year. Another 13,000 employees participated in EEOC anti-harassment compliance training.

Ongoing Efforts

The EEOC stressed that it would continue to fight actively against all forms of harassment in the workplace.

“We have been traveling the country, spreading the word about what the EEOC is doing and the resources we have to offer,” said Commissioner Chai R. Feldblum, Co-Chair of the Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace.

“I am so proud of the EEOC staff who stepped up to the heightened demand of the #MeToo movement to make clear that workplace harassment is not only unlawful, it is simply not acceptable,” added Acting Chair Victoria A. Lipnic. “As the agency with expertise, as the enforcer of the law, and as an educator, the EEOC has continued to lead the way to achieve the goal of reducing the level of harassment and to promote harassment-free workplaces.”

Employers Should Take Note

These sexual harassment statistics demonstrate that employers must take this issue seriously to avoid liability.

It is not just the number of complaints that is going up. Overall, for charges alleging harassment, reasonable cause findings increased from 970 in FY 2017 to nearly 1,200 in FY 2018.

To help avoid joining these statistics, employers should both implement and effectively administer anti-harassment policies and procedures. Best practices include periodically training all employees about what constitutes workplace harassment and how to prevent and remedy it.

June 21, 2018

EEOC Task Force Addresses Sexual Harassment

In the midst of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced in a June 14, 2018 press release that it had recently filed several harassment lawsuits against employers throughout the county. The EEOC stated these lawsuits “should reinforce to employers that harassment – on all bases – is a violation of federal law”. The seven lawsuits referenced in the press release were all filed within two days of a meeting of an EEOC task force on harassment in the workplace. The meeting, entitled “Transforming #MeToo into Harassment-Free Workplaces: A Reconvening of the EEOC’s Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace,” took place on June 11, 2018.

Sexual Harassment Litigation

The EEOC lawsuits include allegations against a marine dealership for racial and sexual harassment from supervisors toward the welders they supervised. The EEOC also sued a trucking company for allowing an independent contractor trucker to sexually harass and threaten a female employee while they drove together. The majority of the lawsuits involve offensive sexual comments, unwelcome touching, and derogatory racial terms. The overall trends of these lawsuits include actions of supervisors toward employees and how the sexual harassment tends to occur in isolated areas of the workplace. The cases emphasize the failure of employers to prevent or address this inappropriate conduct and the allowance of retaliation against those who report this conduct.

The EEOC regularly sues employers for violations of federal employment discrimination laws. However, the agency’s group announcement of the cases in connection with the meeting of the harassment task force is notable. This action should remind employers that the federal government can prosecute businesses who allow harassment to occur in their workplaces. Employees may separately sue their employers under the same and other laws.

EEOC Task Force on Study of Harassment in the Workplace

EEOC Commissioners Chai R. Feldblum and Victoria A. Lipnic chair this task force. It also consists of academics, attorneys, employer and employee advocacy groups, and unions. The task force reconvened on June 11, 2018, with a focus on sexual harassment.

The EEOC task force encourages employers to avoid becoming a defendant in an EEOC (or employee) lawsuit. In June 2016, the EEOC task force reported on the causes, effects, and methods of preventing harassment in the workplace. The report detailed seven main findings:

Workplace harassment continues to be a problem. In 2015, about one-third of EEOC charges involved a form of workplace harassment.
Workplace harassment is consistently unreported. Victims of harassment often don’t report because of fear of retaliation or inaction in response to their complaints.
There is a compelling business case for addressing harassment and preventing further harassment. This includes direct costs, such as legal fees, along with its damaging effect on all workers, which results in lower productivity, higher turnover, and reputational harm.
Leadership and accountability are necessary. Workplace culture has a significant effect on the existence of harassment. Leadership must communicate its commitment toward addressing and preventing harassment.
Workplace training needs to change. Training is most effective when it is tailored to a specific workplace and includes relevant examples of unacceptable behavior.
New approaches to training must be explored. Studies on bystander intervention training and workplace civility training have shown promising results.
Harassment in the workplace won’t stop on its own- it’s on us. Harassment will only stop once everyone at the workplace has a shared sense of responsibility for stopping and preventing harassment.

EEOC Sexual Harassment Statistics

The June 11 meeting highlights the EEOC’s focus on addressing sexual harassment. Although it is just one form of unlawful workplace harassment, sexual harassment has served as an impetus for awareness over the past year. In 2017, the EEOC received 6,696 charges concerning sexual harassment. From these, the EEOC obtained $46.3 million on behalf of employees sexually harassed at work. To avoid joining these statistics, employers must implement effective anti-harassment policies and complaint procedures after analyzing the risk factors of their specific workplace. Then they must take all allegations of harassment seriously. This includes conducting a prompt investigation, taking appropriate remedial action, and preventing retaliation.