According to a recently released report, the EEOC received more retaliation charges in 2012 than in any prior year.  And, in 2012, it received more retaliation charges than in any other individual category.

 The number of retaliation charges lodged with the EEOC has grown dramatically in the last 15 years.  In 1997, 18,198 retaliation claims were received by the EEOC, making up 22.6% of all complaints.  In the last five years, the number of retaliation charges received by the EEOC has increased by 10,000. 

Retaliation was the most commonly-filed charge of 2012, constituting 8.1% of the total complaints lodged with the agency.  Retaliation claims made up 37,836 of the 99,412 private sector discrimination charges filed during fiscal year 2012.  After retaliation, the most frequently filed charges were race discrimination (33,512) and sex discrimination (30,356). 

Retaliation became the most commonly-filed EEOC charge in 2009, and that has remained the case since. 

These data reinforce the importance of managing carefully complaints of discrimination or harassment by current employees.

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Photo of Lloyd B. Chinn Lloyd B. Chinn

Lloyd B. Chinn is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Whistleblowing & Retaliation Group. He litigates employment disputes of all types before federal and state courts, arbitration tribunals (e.g., FINRA, JAMS and AAA), and before administrative…

Lloyd B. Chinn is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Whistleblowing & Retaliation Group. He litigates employment disputes of all types before federal and state courts, arbitration tribunals (e.g., FINRA, JAMS and AAA), and before administrative agencies in New York and across the country. Lloyd’s practice ranges from litigating compensation disputes to defending whistleblower, discrimination and sexual harassment claims. Although he represents employers in a wide range of industries, including law, insurance, health care, consulting, media, education and technology, he focuses a substantial portion of his practice on the financial services sector. He has tried to final verdict or arbitration award substantial disputes in this area.

Due to Lloyd’s litigation experience, clients regularly turn to him for advice regarding the full range of employment matters, including terminations, whistleblower policy and procedure, reductions in force, employment agreements, and employment policies. For example, in the wake of the financial crisis, he has counseled a number of firms through reductions in force and related bonus and deferred compensation disputes. Lloyd has also been retained to conduct internal investigations of allegations of workplace misconduct, including claims leveled against senior executives.

Lloyd has represented global businesses in matters involving Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims. He has taken an active role in the American Bar Association on these issues, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Whistleblower subcommittee of the ABA Employee Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Lloyd has spoken on whistleblowing topics before a numerous organizations, including the American Bar Association, ALI-ABA, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and New York University School of Law. He has testified twice before Congressional subcommittees regarding whistleblower legislation and has also published blog postings, articles and client alerts on a variety of topics in this area, including the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower provisions. Lloyd is a co-editor of Proskauer’s Whistleblower Defense Blog, and he has been widely quoted by on whistleblower topics by a number of publications, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the National Law Journal and Law 360.

Lloyd has also become active in the International Bar Association, presenting on a variety of subjects, including: the #MeToo movement, the COVID-19 pandemic and employment law, and cross-border harmonization of employment provisions in transactions. Lloyd also hosts a quarterly roundtable discussion among financial services industry in-house employment lawyers. He has also published articles and given speeches on a variety of other employment-law topics, including non-solicitation provisions, FINRA arbitration rules, cross-border discovery, e-discovery, and the use of experts.

Photo of Rachel Fischer Rachel Fischer

Rachel S. Fischer is a senior counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department.

Rachel represents employers in all types of employment-related disputes, including defending clients against claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, whistleblowing, breach of contract, and in wage and hour…

Rachel S. Fischer is a senior counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department.

Rachel represents employers in all types of employment-related disputes, including defending clients against claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, whistleblowing, breach of contract, and in wage and hour matters. She represents employers in federal and state courts, arbitration tribunals, and before administrative agencies, and has litigated both single plaintiff and class action lawsuits. As an experienced trial lawyer, Rachel has successfully litigated numerous cases from complaint through jury verdict or arbitral award.

Rachel represents employers across a wide variety of industries, including banking and finance, law firms, media and entertainment, sports, and higher education.

Rachel also counsels clients on a broad range of employment law matters, including investigations, employee terminations and discipline, and employment policies and procedures.