The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

One of the challenges of coping with or addressing racial, gender, and other forms of discrimination in the workplace is the fear of losing your job or being subject to different types of mistreatment because of your decision to speak up. While there are laws in place that are designed to protect you from these behaviors – some of which might be construed as retaliatory acts – not all of your co-workers or supervisors may feel compelled to abide by them. This is one of the many reasons that the federal government has established its own agency to address these complaints.

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is dedicated to eradicating discrimination in the workplace. As part of its function, the EEOC is charged with the investigation of complaints alleging that discriminatory acts or practices that go against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other relevant laws have taken place. Pursuant to the Act, which also established the EEOC, discrimination in employment is prohibited when any of the following are the basis:

• Race
• Color
• National Origin
• Religion
• Sex

Important and Abundant Work

Despite the many laws that have been passed, the American workplace remains rife with discrimination, although it may have, in some cases, adopted subtler forms. To emphasize the pervasiveness of these detrimental practices, consider the following statistics concerning the number of cases reported to the EEOC during Fiscal Year 2008:

• Race – 33,937 complaints filed
• Sex – 28,372 complaints filed
• Age – 24,582 complaints filed
• Disability – 19,453 complaints filed
• National Origin – 10,601 complaints filed
• Religion – 3,273 complaints filed

This represents just a portion of the caseload, and from these cases alone the EEOC receives more than 329 complaints per day.

Contact Us

If you have witnessed or been the victim of discrimination in the workplace, you need an experienced Houston employment lawyer to help you to protect your rights. Contact the Houston discrimination attorneys of the Ross Law Group at 713-482-6910 to learn how you can hold your employer accountable for his or her violations of the law.