The amount of money the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has recovered for victims of discrimination through litigation has fallen by a third, or about $200 million, under President Obama from the previous administration.
The EEOC has recovered $364 million for victims through its litigation from fiscal 2009 to 2013, the commission’s records show. At the same point in George W. Bush’s presidency, the commission had recovered $570 million. Overall, the EEOC recovered $727 million during the Bush years.
But that’s primarily because the Obama administration has focused on conciliation to resolve cases, while the EEOC was more likely to take businesses to court under Bush.
“In fact, there has been a decrease in post-suit monetary recovery, likely due to the agency filing fewer lawsuits over the last few years,” EEOC spokeswoman Christine Nazer told the Washington Examiner.
Under Obama, the commission has filed 1,347 “merit” lawsuits, which involve allegations of serious violations of age, race and sex discrimination, for an average of about 270 a year. The Bush administration, by contrast, filed 2,793 cases, averaging 349 a year.
It’s been a steady decline under Obama. The EEOC filed 321 merit cases in fiscal 2009, the first year of his presidency. The number has dropped each subsequent year, falling to 209 in fiscal 2013.
“While EEOC’s monetary recoveries for victims through settlements are up, EEOC’s litigation has recovered almost $200 million less for victims than under the previous administration over the same time frame,” said a study released by the Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee.
However, victims’ payments from conciliation, in which employer and employee come to agreement so they don’t have to go to court, are significant.
“In fact, litigation is the last step in the process — a last resort, if you will — if efforts to resolve the charge during the administration process have failed,” Nazer said.
To date, the Obama administration has recovered $1.7 billion for victims through pre-litigation settlements, averaging $286 million a year. Combining settlements and litigation, the EEOC has recovered $2.08 billion for discrimination victims, averaging $347 million annually.
The Bush administration recovered $2.06 billion through settlements over its six years, averaging $257 million a year. Combined with what it got through litigation, it recovered $2.79 billion for victims of discrimination, averaging $348 million annually.
So the two administrations are actually pretty close in the amount of money they have recovered. Obama’s just gone to court less often to get it.
