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TextHuman Rights Commission Issues Annual Report
Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs
12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 551
Fairfax, VA 22035-0065
Contact: Merni Fitzgerald, Director of Public Affairs
703-324-3187, TTY 711, Fax 703-324-2010
Media Pager: 703-324-NEWS (6397)
publicaffairs@fairfaxcounty.gov
Nov. 28, 2006
Human Rights Commission Issues Annual Report
Twenty-Five Percent Fewer Cases Filed
A thriving economy in Fairfax County has translated into a 25 percent drop in the number of employment-related cases processed by the Human Rights Commission according to its 2005 annual report, which was presented to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at its Nov. 20 meeting.
Ninety percent of the commission’s case load comes from employment cases, and the most common are filed when someone is terminated or laid off. Low unemployment combined with less layoffs has enabled the commission staff to decrease their inventory of pending cases at a rate greater than the number they received in the past three years. This is a reversal of a trend that had been going on for years. In FY 2005, the commission processed 910 cases compared with 1,092 cases in FY 2004.
The commission continues its support for legislation to protect against sexual orientation discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, credit or education. This has been part of the county’s legislative package every year since 2001. Fairfax County is currently prohibited by state law from providing such protection through its Human Rights Ordinance.
The full annual report for 2005 will be posted on the Human Rights Commission Web page at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hrc in December.
For more information, contact the Human Rights Commission at 703-324-2953, TTY 703-324-2900.
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