how the eeoc works
the eeoc enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate because of a person s race color religion sex including pregnancy gender identity and sexual orientation national origin age 40 or older disability or genetic information 4 in addition it is against the law to discriminate against a person who complains about discrimination has filed a charge of discrimination or has participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit 5 in fact 55 8 of charges filed with the eeoc in the 2020 fiscal year were for retaliation 6 indeed business ethics have changed considerably since the turbulent 1960s first roiled their relatively placid waters on june 15 2020 in a 6 to 3 ruling in bostock v clayton county georgia the u s supreme court determined that protections against discrimination by sex in title vii of the civil rights act protect lgbtq workers justice neil m gorsuch who wrote the opinion stated today we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender the answer is clear an employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision exactly what title vii forbids 7the eeoc s authority and rolethe eeoc is vested with the authority to investigate any charges of discrimination brought against employers who are generally subject to eeoc laws if they have at least 15 employees in the case of age discrimination that minimum rises to 20 many labor unions and employment agencies fall under its jurisdiction as well 4the eeoc s role is to fairly and accurately assess allegations in the charge and then make a finding if it finds discrimination has occurred then it will try to settle the charge it also has the authority to file a lawsuit to protect individuals and the interests of the public 4the laws enforced by the eeoc apply to all types of work situations processes and functions this includes the hiring and firing of employees harassment among the staff or management job training promotions wages and benefits another role of the eeoc is to seek to prevent discrimination before it can occur 4