The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced this past January that in 2009, more than 93,000 workplace discrimination charges were filed with the federal agency nationwide. This is the second highest level ever recorded.

In the private sector, job bias cases alleging discrimination based on disability, religion and/or national origin actually hit record highs, with the number of age-based discrimination charges reaching new heights.

The 2009 results continue a decade-long trend of employees increasingly alleging discrimination based on race, retaliation, age and sex, among other charges. This trend is due to a multiplicity of factors, such as increased diversity and demographic shifts in the labor force, employees having a greater awareness of their rights under the law, and, more recently, a more pro-labor EEOC under the Obama administration.