EEOC lawsuits have included some well known companies lately. Mitsubishi, Nordstrom and Home Depot are among the many that have lost lawsuits on discrimination recently. In fact, lawsuits are on the rise overall. From the end of 2006 until the present time, cases and allegations have increased dramatically. EEOC handles all types of discrimination including race, sex, religion and age discrimination. Age discrimination cases particularly have risen. Some say the theory behind that is there are so many Baby Boomers who are still in the workplace. Many employers mistakenly think that they should replace older workers with younger ones but when they lose the older workers, they also lose the knowledge and experience that goes along with them. Besides that, it is age discrimination and it is illegal. EEOC lawsuits are expected to peak third quarter of 2009. It is yet uncertain what exactly will happen then. Many of the discrimination cases came about as more businesses laid people off due to the economy crunch. The EEOC gets thousands of complaints every year and many of those are settled before they get to court. Some are not and are heard by a judge.