U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
The Commission's litigation program provides relief for victims of discrimination, many of whom have no other recourse, and also encourages employers to resolve cases in the EEOC's administrative process before litigation is contemplated. In FY 2008, EEOC field legal units filed 290 "merits" lawsuits and 36 subpoena enforcement and other actions. 179 of the new filings were individual suits and 111 were class suits. Six trials were held this fiscal year. Legal staff resolved 339 "merits" lawsuits for a total monetary recovery of $102,151,138 ("merits" lawsuits include direct suits and interventions alleging violations of the substantive provisions of the statutes enforced by the Commission and suits to enforce administrative settlements). Of these resolutions, 265 contained Title VII claims, 47 contained Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) claims, 41 contained Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) claims, and 3 contained Equal Pay Act of 1964 (EPA) claims. The number of total merits lawsuits is less than the sum of suits based on each individual law as some suits are filed on multiple bases. We also resolved 27 subpoena enforcement and other actions during the fiscal year. In terms of dollars recovered in direct, indirect and intervention lawsuits by statute, EEOC recovered $65,611,235 in Title VII resolutions, $30,270,298 in ADEA resolutions, $3,549,033 in ADA resolutions, $971,961 in EPA resolutions and $1,748,610 in resolutions involving more than one statute. At the end of FY 2008, the number of cases on the EEOC's active docket that involve multiple aggrieved parties or challenges to discriminatory employment policies was 238 or 45% of our total year-end caseload.