The Equal Opportunities Employment Commission (EEOC) is the federal
government agency which administers most employment discrimination lawsuits.
The five-member Commission makes equal employment opportunity policy and
approves most litigation. The General Counsel is responsible for conducting
EEOC enforcement litigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 (Title VII), the Equal Pay Act (EPA), the Age Discrimination in Employment
Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Some of the laws enforced by the EEOC include:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title
VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin;
- the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects
men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment
from sex-based wage discrimination;
- the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
(ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;
- Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified
individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local
governments;
- Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973, which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with
disabilities who work in the federal government; and
- the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other
things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.
