Rise in discrimination complaints may be overstated

Reports that discrimination complaints by federal employees have skyrocketed in recent years are based on unreliable numbers, the General Accounting Office concludes in a new report.

The number of equal employment opportunity complaints filed by federal employees alleging discrimination rose from 17,696 to 28,947 in from 1991 to 1997. But the way the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission collects that data is not only unreliable, but often results in irrelevant information, GAO said in its report, Equal Employment Opportunity: Data Shortcomings Hinder Assessment of Conflicts in the Federal Workplace (GGD-99-75).

In fact, data collected by the EEOC fails to answer three important questions, GAO said:

• How many individuals filed complaints?
• In how many complaints was each of the bases for discrimination alleged?
• What were the most frequently cited issues in discrimination cases and in how many complaints was each of these issues cited?

Several factors suggest that the increase in discrimination complaints does not mean that the number of individuals filing complaints rose an equal amount, the report said. Employees who have filed multiple complaints may represent a large proportion of claims. An EEOC work group also noted that "spin-off" complaints-new allegations that challenge the process of existing complaints-further enlarge the total number of complaints. In addition, complaints alleging reprisal are usually from employees who have already filed discrimination claims, GAO said.

The EEOC requires agencies to report data on discrimination complaints each year. But the overall figures agencies provide regarding the issues listed in claims and the bases for complaints-such as age, race or sex-are often overestimated. Agencies have different methods for calculating such data, and the EEOC does not have a method to verify the data agencies report, GAO found.

For example, GAO found that the number of complaints reported by the Postal Service on allegations by white postal workers of racial discrimination was twice overstated by 500 percent. The error was caused by a computer programming problem, GAO determined.

"Errors in data reported to or by EEOC were a recurring problem in our work identifying trends in federal sector EEO complaints," the report said. As a result, "the data do not provide a sound basis for decisionmakers, program managers, and EEOC to understand the nature and extent of workplace conflict, develop strategies to deal with conflict and measure the results of interventions," the report said.

Officials at the EEOC agreed with GAO's conclusion that data collected from agencies could be more complete and accurate. The agency said it will require agencies to certify the reliability of the data they send for future reports.