Agency Files First Cases Enforcing Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it filed 110 lawsuits challenging unlawful employment discrimination in fiscal year 2024, placing an emphasis on emerging issues and advancing the employment rights of underserved and vulnerable workers.
“Litigation is only one tool in the EEOC’s toolbox for achieving its mission of preventing and remedying employment discrimination, but it is a tool we will continue to deploy strategically to maximize our impact,” said EEOC General Counsel Karla Gilbride. “I am proud of the role our litigation program has played this past year and will play in the years ahead to remove barriers to equal opportunity and make workplaces fairer, safer and more inclusive.”
The 110 lawsuits filed for the year ending Sept. 30, 2024, include:
- 13 new systemic cases involving a pattern, practice, or policy of discrimination
- 48 cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Over 40 cases alleging retaliation under various statutes enforced by the EEOC
- 7 cases under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
- 5 cases under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)
- 5 sexual harassment cases on behalf of teenage workers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
- 4 cases under Title VII alleging sex discrimination based on sexual orientation
- 3 cases under Title VII alleging sex discrimination based on gender identity
The agency focused on enforcing the PWFA as an emerging issue. At the forefront of enforcement of the new law, the Commission’s lawsuits allege employers failed to provide reasonable accommodations to workers who were entitled to them and often discharged employees as a result. The PWFA, in effect since June 27, 2023, requires employers to provide workplace accommodations, absent undue hardship, to employees who have a limitation due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition, including lactation.
Systemic litigation continued to be a sizable portion of the EEOC’s litigation caseload; the agency filed 13 new systemic cases for a total of 45 current cases, or 22% of the docket at the end of the fiscal year. The EEOC also used many non-systemic filings to address a broad swath of agency priorities, such as harassment, equal pay, and access to the legal system.
The EEOC continued to vigorously enforce the ADA, filing 48 cases or almost half of all merits litigation on behalf of workers with disabilities. Many of these cases challenged employer qualification standards or other inflexible policies, such as those requiring employees to work with no medical restrictions without consideration of possible accommodations, or those assessing points for absences related to an employee’s disability.
The agency’s diverse suit filings were consistent with the agency’s Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for Fiscal Years 2024-2028, which prioritizes addressing persistent forms of employment discrimination, such as recruitment and hiring discrimination and systemic harassment, as well as emerging issues and vulnerable populations. The agency also focused on geographic diversity, filing cases in parts of the country geographically removed from an EEOC office such as South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
In addition to the 110 merits suits, the EEOC also filed 18 suits for non-compliance with mandatory federal reporting requirements (EEO-1 Component 1 workforce demographic reports), and one suit alleging breach of a conciliation agreement.
More information on the EEOC’s litigation program is available, including statistics on selected enforcement suits filed and resolved in the federal district courts, a searchable collection of appellate briefs, and a collection of Office of General Counsel Annual Reports.
The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.
