LIHUE — The number of discrimination complaints filed statewide increased in 2013, with retaliation as the most common suit against employers. Nationally, those figures are down 5.7 percent, but in Hawaii they’re up 12 percent from 2012, according to data
LIHUE — The number of discrimination complaints filed statewide increased in 2013, with retaliation as the most common suit against employers.
Nationally, those figures are down 5.7 percent, but in Hawaii they’re up 12 percent from 2012, according to data released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.
The office reported 93,727 charges were filed nationally in fiscal year 2013, and the $372.1 million in administrative monetary recovery was the highest ever recorded.
In Hawaii, there were 358 EEOC charges filed in 2013, which is the highest since 385 were filed in 2009. In 2012, the state saw 319 complaints. Hawaii accounts for 4 percent of all charges nationally.
The statewide charges filed in 2013 included 112 race charges, 114 gender, 65 on national origin, 10 for religion, 15 for color, 155 for retaliation, 128 for Title VII (whistleblower) retaliation, 74 for age, 122 for disability, and four for equal pay.
The report didn’t specify county by county breakdowns of those numbers.
Christine Saah Nazer, EEOC spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the EEOC resolved more charges than it took in for the fourth straight year, despite budget cuts, a hiring freeze and sequestration with furloughs during the government shutdown.
Nationally, retaliation complaints remain the most frequent in numbers and as a percentage of all charges from the previous year, according to the EEOC. The remaining complaints rank by race, gender — including sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination and disability.
