It's no surprise that when the economy takes a nose dive

It's no surprise that when the economy takes Nike Blazer SB, a nose dive, people get extremely anxious about money. And what do we do in this country when we are low on cash? That's right, WE SUE! All of a sudden seemingly normal people start paying closer attention to all those lawyer ads on TV. After all, somebody must be responsible for this. Since most lawyers know that suing the government is a big waste of time (and money), who is the most logical choice? Why employers, of course. 

For example, the last period of meaningful economic slowdown in this country was 2001 to 2002. In 2001 GDP grew an anemic .8%. In 2002 it grew at only 1.6%. These numbers are much lower than the approximate 3% growth we have experienced over the last 15 years. As the economy stumbled, guess what Nike Cortez spiked? Charges filed with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) grew by over 6%.

As the economy is currently stumbling along at a historically diminished growth rate, guess what is spiking? EEOC charges! Do we see a pattern here?

According to the EEOC, the total number of charges filed in 2007 was a 9% increase from 2006. This is the largest annual increase since 1993 (even eclipsing 2001-2002). Here is the breakdown taken directly from a Nike Shox Shoes, EEOC press release. In 2007 there were:

30,510 Race Charges filed. Up 12% to highest level since 1994.

26,663 Retaliation Charges filed. Up 18% to a record level, double since 1992.

24,826 Sex/Gender Charges filed. Up 7% to highest level since 2002.

19,103 Age Charges filed. Up 15%, largest annual increase since 2002.

17,734 Disability Charges filed. Up 14% to highest level since 1998.

9,369 National Origin Charges filed. Up 12%, above 9,000 for second time ever.

2,880 Religion Charges filed. Up 13% to record high level, double since 1992.