The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released its record-breaking enforcement results for fiscal year 2025. Overall, it’s reaching more workers and challenging all types of workplace discrimination. Under both federal and state law, employers are generally subject to anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, and in California, failure to take affirmative steps to prevent harassment, discrimination and retaliation is unlawful. Employers should review their mandatory harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention policy — and ensure managers and their employees are abiding by the policy’s terms.
In fiscal year 2025, the EEOC secured $660 million for 17,680 victims of employment discrimination — the third largest total money recovery in recent history. This includes $528 million the EEOC recovered through its pre-litigation enforcement process, including mediation, conciliation and pre-cause determination settlements. This is the highest recovery in the agency’s 60-year history and 12% higher than fiscal year 2024.
Additionally, the EEOC reported an 115% increase in monetary benefits from systemic investigations, which are cases involving an employer’s entire policy rather than just one person. This means that if the EEOC visits a workplace for one individual’s complaint, they are more likely than ever to expand that into an audit of the company’s entire hiring, promotion or pay structure.
For fiscal year 2027, the EEOC plans to continue their primary strategic goals:
- Combat and prevent employment discrimination through the strategic application of the EEOC’s law enforcement authorities;
- Prevent employment discrimination and advance equal employment opportunities through education and outreach; and
- Undergo a significant digital and structural transformation to handle more cases with fewer resources, including using AI to improve their efficiency as well as investigate how employers use AI in hiring to ensure civil rights laws are not violated.
Given the strict laws around discrimination — coupled with the EEOC’s increased actions against employers and its goal to further expand outreach and enforcement — employers should make sure:
- They have a harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention policy;
- They’ve reviewed it recently to ensure it complies with California and federal law; and
- All employees have been trained on the policy and are following its terms.
Katie Culliton, Senior Editor, CalChamber
CalChamber members can use the Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation Prevention Policy — Five or More Employees or Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation Prevention Policy — Less Than Five Employees. Not a member? Learn how to power your business with a CalChamber membership.
