The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency whose goal is ending employment discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual harassment, and retaliation for reporting and/or opposing a discriminatory practice. The Commission is also tasked with filing suits on behalf of alleged victim(s) of discrimination against employers and as an adjudicatory for claims of discrimination brought against federal agencies.

he EEOC logged over 79,000 complaints in fiscal year 2004 and more than 75,000 in fiscal year 2005. The backlog of complaints rose from 33,562 in 2005 to 39,061 in 2006 (as of June). The number of complaints to investigate grew to 95,400 in fiscal 2008, up 15.2 percent from 2007 and 26 percent from 2006.