Fairfax County’s low unemployment has translated to fewer discrimination cases related to firings and layoffs, according to a report released by the county’s Human Rights Commission.
Employment-related cases account for the vast majority of caseloads for the commission, which hears complaints of discrimination and provides an outlet for citizen recourse. The commission, which publicly delivered statistics for fiscal 2005 on Monday, received 379 employment cases that year, 129 fewer than the previous year.
“A decrease in new employment [related] cases during the last year corresponds to a thriving economy in which unemployment has been very low and layoffs almost nonexistent,” Victor Dunbar, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
The county’s unemployment is running close to the region’s, which in September was 2.2 percent — 0.2 percentage points away from what experts consider a labor shortage. A year before, unemployment was 2.5 percent.
The commission also handles discrimination cases in housing, education, credit and public accommodations. Overall, the number of cases the agency received fell from 541 in fiscal 2004 to 406 the next year, according to the report.
Historically, about a quarter of complainants believed they were discriminated against on the basis of race or gender. National origin, age, disability and retaliation were also listed as reasons.
Sexual orientation, however, remains outside the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Commission. The Board of Supervisors has repeatedly petitioned the state legislature for the power to add sexual orientation to the ordinance governing the commission but has been rebuffed each time.
Employers in the county have already put such protections in place on their own, Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly said.
“This is not some trailblazing thing we’re trying to do,” said Connolly. “We’re actually catching up with our own private sector.”
