Statistics in the News: Chapter 6 Presenting Data: Tables and Graphs

Disability-Based Harassment Charges Rising

As Chapter 6 notes, a simple graph can sometimes neatly summarize an important story. Here is one case in point: Employees with disabilities have long complained about harassment by their supervisors and coworkers. Many disabled workers argue that they are being constantly accused of faking their injuries, that they are being ganged up on, and that managers try hard to force them to quit.

According to a recent report by the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), disability-based harassment charges are now the fourth most frequent claim. Figure A, drawn with EXCEL, explains.

FIGURE A Harassment Charges Filed With the EEOC, 10/1/00 to 9/30/01

Recently, federal courts have begun to take such complaints more seriously, recognizing them as similar to traditional cases of sexual and racial harassment. But lawsuits under the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act have proved to be extremely difficult to win, according to Ruth Colker, a law professor at Ohio State University. According to her research, between 1992 and mid-1998, employers prevailed in more than 93 percent of cases reaching the trial court level and they prevailed 84 percent of the time on appeal.

Source: Adapted from Reed Abelson, "Employers Increasingly Face Disability-Based Bias Charges," The New York Times, November 20, 2001, pp. C1 and C4.