How soon must a
charge be filed
All employees
(except federal government employees)
It depends on where you
live. Generally, you have 180 days from the date of the discriminatory act to file a
charge with the EEOC. But in certain states and localities that have their own laws
against discrimination, you must first file with the state or local agency within the time
required by the state or local law.
In those situations, you must then file a
charge with the EEOC within 300 days of the discriminatory act, or 30 days after receiving
notice that the state or local agency has finished its work on your case, whichever is
earlier.
However, if you are suing for age
discrimination (and live in a state where you must first file a claim with a state or
local agency), the rules are slightly different. While you still must file a charge with
the EEOC within 300 days of the discriminatory act, you must also wait 60 days after
filing with the state agency before you can file with the EEOC. The combination of these
two requirements means that you had better file with the state agency within 240 days of
the discriminatory act because if you file on the 241st day (and then are required to wait
60 days before filing with the EEOC), the earliest you can file with the EEOC is on the
301st day -- which is one day too late.
To find out whether you have 180 days or 300 days
to file a charge with the EEOC, contact an attorney, the EEOC or your state or local
agency responsible for enforcing employment discrimination laws. An attorney or the EEOC
can inform you whether you must first file with a state or local agency.
Federal government
employees
A federal employee must
contact an equal employment opportunity counselor at the agency where the alleged
discrimination took place within 45 days of the discriminatory action. Ordinarily, the
counselor will complete his or her work within 30 days. If the counselor is unable to
resolve the matter, the employee may then file a complaint with his or her federal agency.
Once the employee files a complaint with his or
her federal agency, there are several different paths the claim may take depending upon
the circumstances. Unfortunately, as with most things created by the federal government,
the process can be extremely complicated. Therefore, for the purposes of this article,
suffice it to say that the two most important things to remember are: (1) you only have 45
days to contact an equal employment opportunity counselor at your federal agency; and (2)
you should immediately retain an attorney who is experienced not only in employment
discrimination law, but in the complex procedural hoops that a federal employee must jump
through.
If you want a more detailed explanation of the
filing requirements for a federal government employee, click
here.
