EEOC FISCAL YEAR 2000 ACCOMPLISHMENTS REPORT SHOWS IMPORTANT PROGRESS ON MULTIPLE FRONTS

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

PRESS RELEASE
1-18-01

Private Sector Backlog Down, Administrative Monetary Benefits Up

WASHINGTON -- Ida L. Castro, Chairwoman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today issued the agency's Accomplishments Report For Fiscal Year 2000 (covering the period of Oct. 1, 1999 through Sept. 30, 2000). The report shows that despite actual reductions in its operating budget, the Commission was able to cut its pending inventory (backlog) of private sector charges to a 17-year low, obtain record-breaking monetary relief (pre-litigation) for victims of discrimination, further reduce the average charge processing time, increase charge resolutions handled through its National Mediation Program, and expand outreach and technical assistance to employers and under-served minority communities.

"EEOC's achievements in fiscal year 2000 demonstrate that the agency is working diligently to provide enhanced customer service to all of its stakeholders," said Chairwoman Castro. "Our comprehensive enforcement approach and strategic utilization of resources have allowed us to capitalize on the major progress made in FY 1999. Moreover, our FY 2001 budget increase will allow us to sustain and build upon our significant accomplishments."

In addition to her fellow Commissioners, stakeholders and staff, Ms. Castro thanked President Clinton and Vice President Gore for contributing to EEOC's historic reforms by providing vital support of the agency's budget. "The Administration's unwavering commitment to civil rights enforcement has been critically important in advancing the goals of equal employment opportunity for all," she said. "Congressional support of the President's budget requests has likewise been critical to our ability to ensure a fair and efficient process that will move us closer to our goal of a discrimination-free workplace."

In FY 1999, for example, EEOC received a much needed 15% funding increase of $37 million, which allowed the agency to implement its National Mediation Program and other vital enforcement and outreach initiatives. In addition, Congress recently approved the Administration's request for more funding for EEOC in the current fiscal year, FY 2001, appropriating $303.8 million -- an 8% increase of $22.9 million from the agency's FY 2000 budget.

The Commission's accomplishments in FY 2000 centered around the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP), which was formulated by Ms. Castro at the beginning of her tenure in October 1998. The CEP is a broad-based approach to enforcement involving the strategic coordination and integration of agency resources. A key aspect of the CEP is increased collaboration among staff in all agency functions, from outreach through resolution of cases in the private and federal sector programs.

Under the CEP, the Commission has focused its enforcement and outreach on key issues first identified in the agency's 1996 National Enforcement Plan, such as sex-based wage discrimination and equal pay violations; harassment based on race, gender, and national origin; "glass ceiling" cases affecting women and minorities; language and accent discrimination, including speak-English- only rules; and cases involving egregious instances of systemic and pervasive discrimination.

Highlights from EEOC's FY 2000 Accomplishments Report include:

• Reducing the private sector pending inventory (backlog) 34,297, the lowest level since FY 1983 (down 15% from 40,184 in FY 1999 and down 69% from an all-time high of 111,345 in FY 1995, third quarter).
• Obtaining $293.2 million in total monetary benefits for private sector charging parties, including a record-breaking $245.7 million through administrative enforcement (pre- litigation).
• Decreasing the average charge processing time for resolving private sector charges to 216 days, a reduction of almost 50 days from FY 1999 and 163 days from FY 1996 when it took an average of 379 days to resolve a charge.
• Increasing the number of successful charge resolutions handled through voluntary mediation to 7,438 - a 54% increase from 4,833 successful mediations in FY 1999 and mediating cases on average of 96 days.
• Increasing the rate of favorable resolutions for charging parties (merit factor rate) to 21% - up from 17% in FY 1999 and 9% in FY 1996.
• Increasing the number "cause" resolutions to 8,248, 9% of all resolutions up from 6.6% in FY 1999 and 2.2% in FY 1995. Cause resolutions are charges resolved with determinations of "reasonable cause" to believe discrimination occurred based upon evidence obtained in investigation.
• Conducting a record 2,961 outreach, education, and technical assistance events reaching more than 218,000 people nationwide - including 242 events geared exclusively to small business audiences attended by 8,628 individuals.
• Obtaining several major litigation victories and settlements in a wide variety of professional fields and addressing discrimination against vulnerable recent-immigrant communities, women in non-traditional jobs, people with disabilities, older workers, and minority individuals in various job categories.
• Implementing new federal sector 1614 regulations, which became effective Nov. 9, 1999, streamlining the procedures governing the discrimination complaint process for federal employees; cutting the EEOC appeals inventory by 14% and the hearings inventory by 13% from the FY 1999 levels; and issuing comprehensive revisions to Management Directive (MD) 110, which explains in detail the administrative processes for filings and adjudicating an EEO complaints under the 1614 regulations.
• Issuing policy guidance on the following key issues: disability-related inquiries and medical exams under the Americans with Disabilities Act; remedies for undocumented workers under the EEO laws; prohibiting discrimination in federal employment based on genetic information; and a new Compliance Manual section on "threshold" issues.
• Upgrading and expanding EEOC's industry-acclaimed Internet Home Page on the World Wide Web, including an historic special section commemorating the Commission's landmark 35th anniversary, a special report on the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a user-friendly search engine to locate information on the site. Use of the Internet site increased 88% last year from 82,714 average number of visitors per month in FY 1999 to 155,496 in FY 2000. Since FY 1998, the public's use of EEOC's Web site has risen a by 289% from 39,980 average number of visitors per month.

EEOC's FY 2000 Accomplishments will be posted shortly on the agency's Web site at www.eeoc.gov. The Commission is also posting updated charge statistics for FY 2000 on its Web site. The charge statistics show the various types of discrimination charges filed with EEOC, resolutions by type, monetary benefits, and other useful information (to access the data click onto "Statistics").

EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which protects workers 40 and older; the Equal Pay Act, which bars sex-based differences in compensation; the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; prohibitions against discrimination affecting persons with disabilities in the federal government; and sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Further information about the Commission is available on its Web site at www.eeoc.gov.