The numbers at a glance
- 17.5% of EEOC charges resolved in fiscal 2025 ended with a merit resolution
- 63.4% ended with a no reasonable cause finding
- 2.6% ended with a reasonable cause finding
- 107 lawsuits the EEOC filed in fiscal 2025, resolving 132
- 5,099 investigated complaints CRD closed in 2024 apart from settlements
People ask what their chances are. The honest answer starts with how the agencies close cases, because that is the only outcome data that exists, and it measures the agency process rather than the merits. This page walks through it.
How the EEOC resolved charges in fiscal 2025
| Outcome | Charges | Share of resolutions | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| No reasonable cause | 57,500 | 63.4% | The agency did not find enough evidence with the resources it had. The worker receives a right to sue. |
| Administrative closure | 16,789 | 18.5% | Closed for a procedural reason, including the worker requesting a right to sue to go to court. |
| Settlement | 6,843 | 7.5% | Resolved with the employer paying or changing something, usually at mediation. |
| Withdrawal with benefits | 6,712 | 7.4% | The worker withdrew after getting something from the employer. |
| Reasonable cause | 2,314 | 2.6% | The agency found discrimination likely occurred and tried conciliation. |
| Merit resolutions, total | 15,869 | 17.5% | Settlements, withdrawals with benefits and cause findings together. |
| All resolutions | 90,744 |
The 63 percent no cause rate is the number that frightens people, and it should not. The EEOC had about 90,000 charges to handle in fiscal 2025 with a budget of 455 million dollars for everything it does. An investigator with that caseload cannot take depositions or subpoena the documents a lawyer would. A no cause finding is not admissible to prove anything, and cases that receive one are won in court regularly.
Merit rates by claim type
| Claim type, fiscal 2025 | Resolutions | Merit resolutions | Merit rate | Reasonable cause findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All charges | 90,744 | 15,869 | 17.5% | 2,314 |
| Retaliation | 37,350 | 6,360 | 17.0% | 960 |
| Harassment, all bases | 37,613 | 6,857 | 18.2% | 920 |
| Sexual harassment | 8,689 | 2,194 | 25.3% | 356 |
| Disability | 35,317 | 7,018 | 19.9% | 939 |
| Race | 30,444 | 4,122 | 13.5% | 442 |
| Age | 16,937 | 2,451 | 14.5% | 254 |
| National origin | 8,480 | 1,250 | 14.7% | 208 |
| Religion | 4,124 | 934 | 22.6% | 406 |
| Pregnancy (Title VII) | 2,649 | 690 | 26.0% | 79 |
| Pregnant Workers Fairness Act | 2,807 | 733 | 26.1% | 81 |
| Equal Pay Act | 1,261 | 281 | 22.3% | 63 |
Sexual harassment and the new pregnancy accommodation statute post the highest merit rates. Age and race post the lowest. The pattern is about evidence, not law: accommodation and harassment claims come with documents and witnesses, while age and race claims usually turn on inference from a pattern, which an agency investigation is not built to develop.
When the EEOC sues
The agency litigates a small number of cases itself. In fiscal 2025 it filed 107 suits, 120 of them on the merits, resolved 132 and recovered 26.64 million dollars. 77 of the suits filed included Title VII claims, 46 included disability claims and 4 included age claims. Against 90,000 charges a year, agency litigation is the exception. Nearly every California case that goes to court gets there with a private lawyer and a right to sue.
The California side
CRD reports closures rather than findings. In 2024 it closed 5,099 investigated complaints apart from settlements, for lack of evidence, because the complainant elected court, or because the parties resolved it themselves, and it recorded 872 settlements. It opened 6,089 investigations the same year. The right to sue route, taken by 16,924 complainants in 2024, produces no outcome data at all, and the superior courts do not track employment cases separately among their 299,534 unlimited civil filings. Private settlement is the most common outcome in California employment law and it is counted nowhere.
What these numbers mean if it happened to you
- An agency no cause finding is not a loss. It is a closure with a right to sue.
- Your odds depend on evidence: writings, witnesses, timing and the employer's shifting explanations, not on the average for your basis.
- California juries can award uncapped emotional distress and punitive damages, which is why employers settle strong cases before trial.
- Attorney fees shift to the employer when you win, so contingency representation is available for good cases.
Deadlines that decide these cases
A California worker has three years from the last act of harassment or discrimination to file with the Civil Rights Department, and one year after a right to sue notice to file in court. The federal deadline is much shorter, 300 days to file a charge with the EEOC. The counts on this page only include people who filed inside those windows. Everyone who waited too long is missing from every table here.
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Sources
The figures on this page were taken from the following publications, as released by the agencies. Percentages, changes, sums and rates per 100,000 workers are our own arithmetic from those figures.
- EEOC, Table E1c, charge receipts and resolutions by type, FY 1997 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E1f, retaliation based charge receipts and resolutions, FY 1992 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E2a, charges alleging harassment, FY 2010 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E2c, Title VII sexual harassment charge receipts and resolutions, FY 2010 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E6a, disability (ADA) charge receipts and resolutions, FY 1992 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E4e, race based charge receipts and resolutions, FY 1997 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E5a, age (ADEA) charge receipts and resolutions, FY 1997 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E4c, national origin based charge receipts and resolutions, FY 1997 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E4f, religion based charge receipts and resolutions, FY 1997 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E4d, pregnancy based charge receipts and resolutions, FY 2010 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E8a, Pregnant Workers Fairness Act charge receipts and resolutions, FY 2024 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E3a, Equal Pay Act charge receipts and resolutions, FY 1997 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table L1, litigation statistics, FY 1997 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Fiscal Year 2025 Agency Financial Report, www.eeoc.gov
- California Civil Rights Department, 2024 Annual Report (complaint tables and county appendix), calcivilrights.ca.gov
- Judicial Council of California, 2026 Court Statistics Report, www.courts.ca.gov
Frequently asked questions
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Attorney advertising. The figures on this page come from the public sources listed above and are reproduced or computed as described. They are provided for general information and do not constitute legal advice, nor does reading this page create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. If you believe your rights were violated, consult a California employment attorney promptly, filing deadlines apply.