Despite claims several years ago that we live in a post-racial, post-feminist society, discrimination is alive and well in America. There are several federal statutes that prohibit discrimination on the basis of membership in protected classes, but employers continue to treat employees in disparate ways based on their identities rather than merit. Many of the federal statutes are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
To bring a lawsuit under any of these statutes, you must first file a charge with the EEOC within the appropriate time window. The EEOC may investigate, and only after it issues a notice of right to sue can you pursue a remedy in court. The EEOC’s determination that it will not pursue your claim any further doesn’t mean that you haven’t been a victim of discrimination based on your membership in a protected category, and it may still be worthwhile to pursue recourse through civil litigation. Your damages under laws such as Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) are capped based on the size of your employer.
In 2016, the EEOC noted 9,308 charges were filed in Texas alone. This was 10.2% of the total charges filed in the United States and very slightly down from 2015, when 9,539 charges were filed in Texas. Of the charges filed in 2016 in Texas, 3,244 were based on race, 403 were based on color, 2,765 were based on sex, 1,190 were based on national origin, and 358 were based on religion.