To file a job discrimination lawsuit in federal court, you generally have 90 days from the date you receive a Notice of Right to Sue from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Before that, you must first file a charge with the EEOC within 180 days of the discriminatory act, or 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a law covering the same conduct. Miss either window and the case is usually over before a judge reads it. 1EEOC. Time Limits for Filing a Charge2EEOC. Filing a Lawsuit
The EEOC Charge Comes First
You cannot walk straight into federal court with a discrimination claim under Title VII, the ADA, or the ADEA. The starting point is an administrative charge with the EEOC, and the clock begins on the day the discrimination happened.
The baseline deadline is 180 days. It stretches to 300 days when a state or local fair employment agency enforces a law prohibiting the same type of discrimination. 1EEOC. Time Limits for Filing a Charge
Federal employees and job applicants follow a separate track. If you work for the federal government, you must contact an agency EEO counselor within 45 days of the discriminatory event, not 180. 1EEOC. Time Limits for Filing a Charge
The 90-Day Court Deadline
Once the EEOC finishes with your charge, it issues a Notice of Right to Sue. From the date you receive that letter, you have 90 days to file your lawsuit in federal court. This applies to claims brought under Title VII (race, color, religion, sex, national origin) and the Americans with Disabilities Act. 2EEOC. Filing a Lawsuit
Ninety days is short. It runs on calendar days, and courts hold plaintiffs to it strictly.
Age Discrimination Works Differently
Age claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act follow their own rules. The 180-day charge deadline still applies, and it can be extended to 300 days, but only if a state law prohibits age discrimination and a state agency enforces it. A local ordinance alone will not extend the window. 329 U.S.C. § 6311EEOC. Time Limits for Filing a Charge
You do not need a Right to Sue notice to bring an ADEA case in court. You can file the lawsuit any time after 60 days have passed since your EEOC charge. If the EEOC does end its investigation and sends you notice, you have 90 days from that notice to file suit. 2EEOC. Filing a Lawsuit
When a Late Filing Might Still Be Allowed
Courts occasionally allow a case to proceed past the deadline under a doctrine called equitable tolling. To qualify, you have to show that you were actively pursuing your rights and that something extraordinary and outside your control kept you from filing on time. 4Supreme Court of the United States. Holland v. Florida
The Supreme Court has treated these deadlines as procedural rather than jurisdictional, which gives courts room to make that exception when fairness demands it. 5Supreme Court of the United States. Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. The exception is narrow. Forgetting the deadline, or not knowing the law, is not enough.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
Late filings are one of the most common reasons discrimination cases get dismissed. When that happens, the strength of the underlying claim rarely matters; the case ends on the timing alone, and with it, any right to compensation for that claim. 2EEOC. Filing a Lawsuit
Track two dates from the moment something happens at work: the date of the discriminatory act, which starts the EEOC clock, and the date you receive the Right to Sue letter, which starts the 90-day court clock. If either is close, do not wait.