67 | EEOC-INITIATED LITIGATION: 2026 EDITION ©2026 Seyfarth Shaw LLP The bar graph below represents the types of charges filed with the EEOC between fiscal years 2022-2024. As this graph demonstrates, the amount of disability, age, and race-based discrimination charges have steadily increased the past three years. Harassment charges are another category that has continued to rise in recent years, with employees filing a whopping 35,774 charges alleging workplace harassment in FY 2024. This figure represents not only a 12% year-over-year increase, but also the highest number of harassment charges received by the Commission since it began publishing harassment charge data in FY 2010. Indeed, the total number of harassment charges in FY 2024 surpassed the amount of such charges the EEOC received during the height of the “Me Too” Movement. This aligns with the EEOC’s persistent focus on combatting workplace harassment, which is exemplified through its extensive Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace.117 However, one type of charge that, once again, saw a notable decline in FY 2024 was religious discrimination. In FY 2022 American workers filed more religious-based EEOC charges than ever before, lodging 13,814 such charges. This took a sharp decline to only 4,341 charges in FY 2023, and continued to drop in FY 2024, where workers filed only 3,640 charges alleging religious discrimination. This decrease is likely a result of the easing of COVID-19 vaccine requirements by the government and employers. The religious based charges filed in FY 2024 now resemble those observed prior to FY 2022. 117 https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/enforcement-guidance-harassment-workplace#_Toc164808022. 2024 2023 2022 11,500 25,004 955 24,430 5,500 2,273 20,992 13,814 37,898 19,805 14,144 29,160 1,012 31,354 6,963 2,966 27,505 4,341 46,047 25,473 16,223 33,668 1,116 35,774 8,266 2,132 30,270 3,640 42,301 26,872 Age Disability Equal Pay Harassment National Origin Pregnancy Race Religion Retaliation Sex EEOC Charges by Basis FY 2022-2024 ©2026 Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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