As it has been the case since 2010, retaliation charges continued to account for the largest number of charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to fiscal year 2016 enforcement and litigation statistics released by the agency Wednesday.
A total of 42,018 charges, or 45.9% of the 91,503 charges filed, were accounted for by retaliation under all statutes for fiscal year 2016, which ended Sept. 30, according to the EEOC.
The total of 91,503 charges was a 2.4% increase over the 89,385 charges reported for FY 2015. That in turn was a 0.7% increase over the 88,778 reported for FY 2014.
The agency also reported it had resolved 97,443 charges in FY 2016 and secured more than $482 million for discrimination victims.
Following retaliation, race was the second most frequent charge filed with the agency in fiscal year 2016, at 32,309, or 35.3% of the total. It was followed by disability, 28,073, or 30.7%; sex, 26,934, or 29.4%; and age, 20,857, or 22.8%.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission secured more than $482.1 million for victims of discrimination in private, state and local government and federal workplaces during fiscal year 2016, which ended Sept. 30.