Surge in disability discrimination claims sends job-bias complaints to record

WASHINGTON -- Federal job-bias complaints rocketed to record levels last year nationally and surged powerfully in Nevada.

Overall, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received nearly 100,000 claims during the 2010 fiscal year, a 7 percent increase and the highest number in its 45-year history.

In Nevada, the total number of claims jumped 27.3 percent to 1,293 from 1,016 in the prior fiscal year.

The agency says charges of disability discrimination rose by about 17 percent to 25,165 claims, but again Nevada's numbers soared even more.

The number of disability claims shot up 53.3 percent in Nevada to 374 from 244.

The spike in disability claims began in the months after Congress approved changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2009. The changes made it easier for people with treatable conditions like epilepsy, cancer or mental illness to claim they are disabled.

Commission Chairwoman Jacqueline Berrien said the agency has spent the past two years boosting its staff to cope with the growing number of claims and curbing the backlog of pending charges. Since President Barack Obama took office, the agency has increased staff levels that were sharply reduced during the Bush administration.

"Discrimination continues to be a substantial problem for too many job seekers and workers," Berrien said. "We must continue to build our capacity to enforce the laws and ensure that workplaces are free of unlawful bias."

The unemployment rate for disabled workers is 14.3 percent, compared with 8.9 percent for persons with no disability, the most recent Labor Department figures show. That disparity could be another reason for the high number of disability bias charges, said Robin Shaffert, senior director of corporate social responsibility for the American Association of People with Disabilities.

"Layoffs often impact people with disabilities first and more severely than others," Shaffert said. "People are losing their jobs and they believe it's for discriminatory reasons."

Discrimination claims rose in every category and, as in past years, claims based on race, sex and retaliation were most frequent. Race discrimination claims rose 7 percent, while retaliation claims rose
8 percent.

Ron Cooper, a former general counsel of the commission who now works in private practice, said continuing economic struggles probably help fuel discrimination claims.

"There's nothing that stimulates employment litigation like a bad economy," Cooper said. "People who have lost their jobs are a whole lot more likely to think about bringing a lawsuit than people who continue to be employed."

Las Vegas Review-Journal writer John G. Edwards contributed to this report.