Washington workers filed 1,724 discrimination charges with the EEOC in FY 2025, and 67.6% of them alleged retaliation, well above the 61.6% national share. The state's own Human Rights Commission fields roughly 150-210 employment inquiries a month with just 12 investigators statewide. Every figure on this page links to the government table it comes from.
In this guide
How many discrimination charges do Washington workers file?
Washington workers filed 1,724 discrimination charges directly with the federal EEOC in FY 2025. That figure counts only direct EEOC filings, the EEOC's tables note it excludes charges filed with state agencies.
The state agency, the Washington State Human Rights Commission, publishes its intake volume monthly: between October 2025 and June 2026 it received 1,655 employment discrimination inquiries, roughly 150 to 210 per month, and more than triple its housing inquiries over the same period.
What do Washington workers allege most?
Retaliation dominates Washington's charge data even more than it does nationally: 67.6% of the state's FY 2025 EEOC charges alleged retaliation (1,166 of 1,724), versus a 61.6% national share.
Nearly half of Washington's charges alleged disability discrimination (858, 49.8%), with race appearing in 34.5% (595), sex in 32.5% (561), and age in 19.5% (336). A single charge can allege more than one basis.
Sources [1]
How backed up is Washington's state agency?
As of June 2026, the Washington State Human Rights Commission reports 12 investigators handling intakes and investigations statewide, against a backlog of more than 850 open cases, 370 of them employment cases. The agency's own backlog data shows the typical open employment case has been pending for months.
That backlog is a practical reason deadlines and venue choice matter in Washington: state law also provides a direct court action, and a worker weighing the agency route against a lawsuit should understand both clocks before choosing.
What are harassment and discrimination cases worth?
WSHRC's published settlement data shows employment discrimination settlements totaling $420,698.55 in 2025, up from $264,250 in 2024. Those are agency-negotiated settlements only, cases resolved in court or privately are not included.
The national numbers give the fuller picture of scale: the EEOC obtained $261.9 million in pre-litigation monetary benefits for harassment charges in FY 2025 ($86.1 million of it for sexual-harassment charges), and secured $660 million overall for 17,680 discrimination victims.
Agency totals say nothing about the value of any particular claim, but they document that harassment and retaliation cases resolve for real money at every level of the system.
Questions, answered.
How many discrimination charges do Washington workers file each year?
Washington workers filed 1,724 charges directly with the EEOC in FY 2025, and the state's Human Rights Commission separately received 1,655 employment discrimination inquiries in just the nine months from October 2025 through June 2026.
Source [1]
What is the most common workplace claim in Washington?
Retaliation, it appeared in 67.6% of Washington's FY 2025 EEOC charges (1,166 of 1,724), a higher share than the 61.6% national figure. Disability discrimination was second at 49.8%.
Source [1]
How long does the Washington Human Rights Commission take?
The agency reports just 12 investigators statewide as of June 2026, with 370 open employment cases in its backlog, a practical reason many Washington workers weigh the direct court action state law provides alongside the agency route.
Source [3]
What do workplace discrimination cases settle for in Washington?
WSHRC's agency-negotiated employment settlements totaled $420,698.55 in 2025 (up from $264,250 in 2024), a figure that excludes cases resolved in court or privately. Nationally, the EEOC obtained $261.9 million in pre-litigation benefits for harassment charges in FY 2025.
Source [5]