Job-bias complaints against private firms jump

WASHINGTON -- Federal job-discrimination complaints by workers against private employers rose by 9 percent last year, the biggest annual increase since the early 1990s.

The data released Wednesday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission show that allegations of discrimination based on race, retaliation and sex were the most frequent.

There were 82,792 complaints filed between Oct. 1, 2006, and Sept. 30, 2007. That was the highest number since 2002 and compares with 75,768 in the 2006 budget year. Last year, 72,442 private-sector discrimination complaints were resolved, and the commission recovered about $345 million in compensation for those who had filed discrimination charges.

"Corporate America needs to do a better job of proactively preventing discrimination and addressing complaints promptly and effectively," said Naomi Earp, the head of the commission.

The agency enforces federal anti-discrimination laws among private employers.

Economist Marc Bendick said the figures do not suggest an alarming trend and may amount to only a random fluctuation.

"The increase is spread fairly evenly across the board in terms of the basis of the complaint, such as race, gender, age, or national origin, so it does not seem to signal emergence of a dramatic new discrimination problem," said Bendick, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant who specializes in employment and human-resource management.

Bendick said he would expect further increases in employment-discrimination complaints because a worsening economy means more layoffs and greater competition in hiring.

Allegations of discrimination based on race were the leading category, with 30,510, or 37 percent of all filings last year.

Charges based on retaliation accounted for 26,663 of the complaints, or about 32 percent. For the first time, retaliation was the second-most-frequent complaint, surpassing sex-based charges. Retaliation charges were up 18 percent from the previous year.

Sex-discrimination complaints totaled 24,826 of the filings, or 30 percent.

There also were double-digit percentage increases for complaints about age and disability discrimination. Complaints about discrimination based on pregnancy rose 14 percent to 5,587 last year, a record.

The only major category with a drop involved equal pay.

The number of complaints slipped from 861 to 818 last year, accounting for 1 percent of all cases filed.