Employment discrimination statistics can provide a good look into how well a state is managing the protection of its workers. Nobody should ever suffer from discrimination in the workplace as each person deserves the right to make a living.
Looking at statistics gives a nice overview of where Michigan stands and what specific discrimination issues are plaguing the state.
A look at the total numbers
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the total number of discrimination charges brought in 2022 from Michigan was 1,819. This accounted for 2.5% of all the charges in the United States. This was up from 1,284 or 1.9% in 2021.
Breakdown of the type of discrimination
The EEOC has multiple categories of protection. These are all characteristics of individuals that have historically caused employers to discriminate against workers and include race, sex, national origin, religion, color, age and disability. The EEOC also tracks discrimination based on wage inequality, retaliation and under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008.
The most common charges in Michigan in 2022 were for retaliation, which is when an employer takes negative action against an employee due to that employee exercising protected right, such as reporting discrimination. These charges totaled 799 or 43.9% of all charges.
The next highest included charges for discrimination based on disability at 571 or 31.4%, sex at 448 or 24.6%, religion at 510 or 28% and race at 412 or 22.6%/
The next most common charge was for age discrimination at 231 or 12.7%, followed by national origin at 80 or 4.4%, equal pay at 31 or 3.2%, color at 35 or 1.9% and sex at 388 or 1.8%. GINA complaint charges numbered 14 or 0.8%.