Employment Discrimination: What’s with Indiana?

The number of  employment discrimination complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission  is at an all time high, and its expected to rise.

But there are indications that discrimination is more prevalent in certain states, which apparently have laws and a regulatory schemes that favor business. For example, Texas is an employment-at-will state, which means that employees can be terminated for any reason as long as it doesn’t violate the law (i.e. discrimination) or an important public policy.

Conversely, some high population states appear to have a lower incidence of employment discrimination, possibly indicating a more favorable climate for employer-employee relations.

Businessweek recently did an analysis based on the number of EEOC “merit resolutions” in 2010. These are cases resolved without litigation by the EEOC with private employers and state and local government employers (not federal government). The EEOC filed 250 lawsuits in 2010, resolved 285 lawsuits, and resolved 104,999 private sector charges.  Note: The EEOC “prosecutes” only a fraction of the complaints that are filed with the EEOC.

Businessweek’s analysis shows that Texas was the state with the highest number of merit resolutions in 2010. However, this is not particularly surprising given that Texas has the second highest population of any state, after California, which ranked 2nd.

But what’s with Indiana? It’s the 15^th largest state but ranks 5^th state in terms of EEOC merit resolutions. Indiana touts itself as America’s heartland, a family friendly place?  Apparently it is even friendlier to business.  If you’re looking for a job, you might want to take this into account. And if you have a job in states like Indiana, Alabama or Mississippi, well … good luck!

On the other hand, New York is the 3^rd largest state but ranks 15^th in merit resolutions. Go New York!

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says private sector workplace discrimination charge filings with the federal agency nationwide hit an unprecedented level of 99,922 during the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2010. All major categories of charge filings in the private sector (which include charges filed against state and local governments) increased. These include charges alleging discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; the Equal Pay Act; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

For the first time ever, retaliation under all statutes (36,258) surpassed race (35,890) as the most frequently filed charge, while allegations based on religion (3,790), disability (25,165) and age (23,264) increased.

Here’s the Businessweek ranking of states with EEOC merit resolutions:

1. Texas, 2^nd largest state, population 25,145,561; merit resolutions,  1,780.

2. California, largest state, pop. 37,253,956; merit resolutions, 1,600.

3. Florida, 4^th largest state,pop.  18,801,310; merit resolutions, 1,409.

4. Georgia, 9^th largest state, pop. 9,687,653; merit resolutions, 1,288.

5. Indiana, 15^th largest state, pop. 6,483,802; merit resolutions, 1,063.

6. Illinois, 5^th largest state,pop.  12,830,632; merit resolutions, 1,001.

7. Pennsylvania, 6^th largest state, pop. 12,702,379; merit resolutions, 860,

8. North Carolina, 10^th largest state, pop. 9,535,483; merit resolutions, 823.

9. Tennessee, 17^th largest state, pop.  6,346,105; merit resolutions, 800.

10. Ohio, 7^th largest state, pop. 11,536,504; merit resolutions, 680.

11. Alabama, 23^rd largest state, pop.4,779,736; merit resolutions, 650.

12. New York, 3^rd largest state, pop. 19,378,102′ merit resolutions, 609.

13. Michigan, 8^th largest state,  pop. 9,883,640; merit resolutions, 559.

14. Colorado, 22^nd largest state, pop. 5,029,196; merit resolutions, 509.

15. Virginia, 12^th largest state, pop. 8,001,024; merit resolutions, 499.

16. Arizona, 16^th largest state, pop.,  6,392,017; merit resolutions, 496.

17. Missouri, 18^th largest state, pop., 5,988,927; merit resolutions, 463.

18. Mississippi, 31^st largest state, pop., 2,967,297; merit resolutions, 392.

19.  Arkansas, 32^nd largest state, pop. 2,915,918; merit resolutions, 376.

20. Washington, 13^th largest state, pop. 6,724,540;  merit resolutions, 353.