It's been a relatively slow year for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), with an unexpected decline in the number of
According to EEOC, it filed 110 lawsuits against unlawful
"It was only at the very end of the last fiscal year that there was a Democratic majority," says Andrew Scroggins, a labor and employment attorney at Seyfarth Shaw. "So that partly explains the lack, but we expected coming out of last year that there would be more cases filed because of that shift."
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Scroggins points out that the EEOC did receive a less-than-ideal budget for 2024, potentially leading to a drop in the cases. Christopher DeGroff, a labor and employment attorney at Seyfarth, adds that the EEOC may nonetheless have a
"Those lawsuits didn't just go away at the end of that fiscal year," says DeGroff. "These cases tend to have a considerable lifespan: One of these cases can last at least a year, but ordinarily, they can go as long as two, three or even more years after it is filed."
So, what does the EEOC's slower litigation year mean for employers? DeGroff and Scroggins Scroggins warn employers not to let their guards down. DeGroff recommends that employers pay attention to the increase in ADA-related lawsuits and consider whether they're compliant with the law. At the core of the ADA is the question of whether workers with disabilities have equal access to opportunities and benefits afforded to everyone else. This applies to employees who need a leave of absence; employment protections do not disappear because an employee is not actively on the job.
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"The EEOC has had a considerable focus on ADA issues — that has been a trend for the last several years, and it includes leave issues," says DeGroff. " This includes the intersection of short-term and long-term disability plans. It's certainly something that employers need to be vigilant of."
Scroggins advises employers to review the EEOC Strategic Enforcement Plan, which lays out the agency's priorities and strategies for 2024-2028. For example, the EEOC has outlined that it wants to expand the awareness of those protected by the EEOC, but have been underserved in the past, like workers with mental health-related disabilities, intellectual disabilities and arrest or conviction records.
"The EEOC announces their enforcement priorities, and then goes to the employer community with guidance or rule-making to provide additional information about how the EEOC intends to enforce the laws," says Scroggins. "That's followed up by litigation to make more public examples of employers who the EEOC believes are not following guidance. So by being familiar with the EEOC strategic enforcement priorities, employers are better able to assess their own risk."
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Scroggins reminds employers that the EEOC should have a Democratic majority until 2026 — and if the agency stays intact under the Trump administration for the next two years — then it's possible the cases could increase in the coming year. As for employees, DeGroff says that the EEOC's litigation trends will not dissuade workers from filing lawsuits.
"Remember that the fact that the EEOC doesn't necessarily choose to pursue litigation doesn't mean that there isn't a host of private plaintiff attorneys who are ready and willing to take these cases into federal court," says DeGroff. "Employers should not let their guard down."
