Dive Brief:
- EEOC workplace discrimination cases involving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees rose 28% last year, in some part due to sexual orientation becoming a more public issue in the wake of the Supreme Court's same-sex couples marriage decision, according to Bloomberg.
- For the EEOC, whose year ends in September, LGBT-related charges not only rose by percentage but also by monetary awards, as EEOC-backed awards increased 51% to $3.3 million, Bloomberg reports.
- As the national debate expands, more LGBT workers are willing to step forward in the war against perceived discrimination, according to Bloomberg. 28 states today do not protect sexual orientation under civil-rights laws. In those states, LGBT workers have no choice but to turn to the EEOC for relief.
Dive Insight:
“More and more people are willing to talk about the issues,” Jenny Yang, EEOC chairman since 2013, told Bloomberg. “The national dialogue has really shifted.”
Bloomberg notes that while the 1,412 charges that the EEOC received on behalf of LGBT employees pales when compared to the 90,000 overall incidents reviewed last year, the EEOC pursues just a small portion of the most high-profile complaints with legal action (mediation settles most of the cases), Yang told Bloomberg.
Michelle Phillips, an employment law attorney at Jackson Lewis in White Plains, NY, said the LGBT cases are clearly a top priority, even if the numbers are small. “EEOC is going for big headlines," she told Bloomberg. "The allegations in the charge show discrimination is blatant and intentional. It hits people in the face.”
Yang added that transgender cases are a “really important" issue for the EEOC.