The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is frequently mentioned on our New Jersey blog, since it often brings employment discrimination lawsuits on behalf of victimized workers. This publicity is no accident. The agency has made a concerted effort to bring more and larger discrimination cases against companies in recent years.

The capacity of the EEOC to file cases is attributable to funding increases provided by the Obama administration, though its resources are not limitless. In the five years between 2006 and 2011, the number of open EEOC investigations increased twelvefold. The willingness to take on cases involving additional plaintiffs is strategic: The agency wants to use those resources efficiently to deter as much discriminatory behavior in the workplace as it can.

According to one defense attorney, the EEOC is succeeding. Scores of companies have lost court cases or have settled before the jury could reach a verdict. The cases run the gamut: Some were age discrimination claims, others alleged disability discrimination, and still others asserted a racial bias.

The EEOC’s “go big” strategy has its critics, however. The agency does not have to abide by the typical criteria used to establish a class of plaintiffs in a big case, and some defendants have asserted that the EEOC has in some instances brought claims prematurely. Some courts have agreed with defendants who have raised that argument in court, striking down the EEOC’s claims.

In addition, the EEOC’s strategy tends to prefer broader cases to those of individual plaintiffs. An experienced employment discrimination attorney, however, can help discrete victims bring their cases to court.

Source: The Washington Post, “Government turns heat on employers over job bias,” Sam Hananel, Aug. 16, 2012

• Workers are protected by a variety of state and federal anti-discrimination laws. If you would like to learn more about our firm, please visit our Kingston employment law page.