Filing a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC
The federal Equal Employment and Opportunities Commission (“EEOC”) can be a resource for employees facing discrimination in the workplace, so employees should be aware of the process, time limitations, and capacity constraints involved in an EEOC complaint to ensure they are effectively addressing their claims of discrimination.
The EEOC enforces a number of federal laws related to employment discrimination and harassment, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (“Title VII”), the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), among others. An employee who believes they have been harmed by their employer’s violation of these laws may file a “Charge of Discrimination” with the EEOC. The charge must be filed within 180 days of the discriminatory act. If the employee’s claim is covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law, the employee has 300 days to file their complaint. Although these time constraints often have no bearing on an employee’s state law claims, employees should be aware of the EEOC’s filing deadlines as an employee must file a charge with the EEOC, and receive a Notice of Right to Sue letter, before they are able to file a lawsuit in federal court on federal law claims of discrimination, with few exceptions.
When the EEOC receives the employees charge, it can choose to facilitate mediation between the employee and employer to attempt settlement, conduct an investigation into the charge, attempt resolution through conciliation, or take assignment of the claim and litigate the matter on behalf of the employee. However, if the employee’s claim involves a law that the EEOC does not enforce, or if the EEOC decides that they are unlikely to find that the law has been violated, the employee’s charge will be closed and the EEOC will issue the employee the aforementioned Right to Sue letter, giving the employee 90 days to file a lawsuit in federal court. Therefore, although the EEOC can be a helpful resource for some, there is no guarantee that it will be able to facilitate a resolution for all of the charges it receives.