Relief the EEOC may seek against discrimination include: back pay, hiring, promotion, reinstatement, front pay, reasonable accommodation, or other actions that will make an individual “whole” (in the condition he or she would have been but for the discrimination). Relief also may include payment of attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, and court costs. In addition, and employer may be required to post notices to all employees addressing the violations of a specific charge and advising them of their rights under the laws the EEOC enforces and their right to be free from retaliation.
Under most EEOC-enforced laws, compensatory and punitive damages also may be available where intentional discrimination is found. Damages may be available to compensate for actual monetary losses, for future monetary losses, and for mental anguish and inconvenience. Punitive damages also may be available if an employer acted with malice or reckless indifference. Punitive damages are not available against state or local governments.
The employer also may be required to take corrective or preventive actions to cure the source of the identified discrimination and minimize the chance of its recurrence, as well as discontinue the specific discriminatory practices involved in the case.