EEOC Faces Large Budget Cut

The Labor Research Association reported earlier this week that the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission faces a $4.2 million budget cut for the coming year. The EEOC, which is the major federal agency charged with enforcing laws against religious and other discrimination in employment, has lost 20% of its staff since 2001. The agency currently has a backlog of more than 30,000 discrimination cases (over one-third involve racial discrimination) and it takes an average of 180 days to process a case.