Employment discrimination claims based on race, gender, age, retaliation, and other factors increased in 2008 at the highest rate in several years, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports.

ANXIOUS EMPLOYEES

CHARGES UP 15 PERCENT
The total of 95,402 charges investigated in the 2008 Fiscal Year was a 15 percent increase over the previous year. "The EEOC has not seen an increase of this magnitude in charges filed for many years," the agency said in a statement.

RACE, AGE BIAS CLAIMS SOAR
Continuing a long-term trend, the most frequently filed discrimination charges involved race, retaliation and gender. The largest annual increases were for claims of age discrimination and retaliation. Workers were awarded more than $376 million in 2008.

UPWARD TREND CONTINUES
Over the past five years, almost 409,000 employment discrimination claims have been filed with the EEOC and worker claims resulted in approximately $1.8 billion in awards. The number of charges increased in each of the past four years.