Washington, DC – Today, 71 Democratic Members of Congress, led by Reps. Lois Frankel (FL-21) and Mark Takano (CA-41), sent a letter to House Committee on Appropriations leadership requesting additional funds be allocated for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In the age of #MeToo, workers across the country have come forward with harrowing stories of sexual abuse and harassment in the workplace. Unfortunately, the EEOC does not have sufficient resources to shoulder the increased demand for its services and fulfill its mandate to enforce anti-discrimination and harassment laws.

In their letter, the Members wrote: “The EEOC has not received a budget increase since FY2010, and has the lowest number of full-time employees in nearly 30 years. In FY2017, the EEOC received nearly 85,000 charges. It is also working diligently with limited resources to reduce a backlog of more than 60,000 charges. Due to understaffing, each investigator has an average workload of 125 rolling charges, and it takes an average of 295 days to resolve a claim.”

They continued: “In the month following the Weinstein allegations published in the New York Times, average visits to the EEOC’s website seeking information about sexual harassment nearly tripled. Current wait times to speak with a representative on the EEOC’s 1-800 hotline are 45 minutes to an hour. For workers finding the courage to come forward, these roadblocks are damaging and may discourage the pursuit of justice.”

“Sexual harassment is more than inappropriate misconduct – it is an abuse of power with serious economic consequences. It deprives workers of their freedom to put food on the table, pay their bills and advance in their professions. We urge you to provide robust funding for the EEOC so that men and women can work side by side in safety and dignity, with equal opportunity and fair treatment.”

Full text of the letter can be found here.

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