To file a discrimination lawsuit against your employer, you have to go through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission first. File a charge with the EEOC within 180 days of the discriminatory act (300 days in most states), wait for the agency to investigate or request a right to sue letter after 180 days, and then file your complaint in federal court within 90 days of receiving that letter. Skipping the EEOC step or missing any of these deadlines will end your federal claim before it starts.
Check That Federal Law Covers Your Situation
Not every workplace is covered. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.1U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers disability discrimination, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers 40 and older.2U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Civil Rights Requirements – Federal Employment Discrimination Laws
Title VII and the ADA apply to employers with 15 or more employees. The ADEA applies to those with 20 or more.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 2000e – Definitions If your employer is smaller, the federal path in this article won’t help you, though your state may have its own anti-discrimination law with broader reach.
Build Your Evidence Before You File
Start with a written timeline. For each incident you believe was discriminatory, record the date, who was involved, what was said or done, and who else was present. Memory fades quickly, and this record will anchor everything from your EEOC charge to your eventual complaint.
Collect the paper trail. Performance reviews, disciplinary notices, pay stubs, promotion and rejection letters, emails, text messages, and chat logs all help show what your employer knew and how you were treated compared with others. If your company has an employee handbook, get a copy; it usually spells out anti-discrimination policies and internal complaint procedures.
If you were fired or forced out, start job hunting right away. Courts require discrimination plaintiffs to take reasonable steps to reduce their lost wages, and a gap in your search can shrink what you recover. You don’t have to accept a demotion or an unreasonable commute, but you do need to show a genuine effort to find similar work.
File a Charge with the EEOC
You cannot go straight to court. Federal law requires you to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC first, and a court will dismiss your case if you haven’t.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit Many states also have their own Fair Employment Practices Agencies, and filing with one often counts as filing with the other under worksharing agreements.
The Filing Deadline
You have 180 calendar days from the discriminatory act to file, extended to 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a law prohibiting the same type of discrimination. For ADEA age claims, the 300-day extension only applies where a state law (not just a local ordinance) prohibits age discrimination and a state agency enforces it.5U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits For Filing A Charge These deadlines are unforgiving. Miss them and you lose your federal claim.
How to Submit the Charge
Three routes are available. The EEOC’s online Public Portal walks you through an assessment, then schedules an intake interview by phone or in person. You can also file in person at any EEOC field office. Or you can mail a signed letter with your contact information, the employer’s name and address, a description of what happened, when it happened, and why you believe it was discriminatory.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. How to File a Charge of Employment Discrimination An online inquiry alone is not a charge; the charge itself is a signed statement asking the EEOC to act.7U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEOC Public Portal
What Happens at the EEOC
Within 10 days of filing, the EEOC notifies your employer and gives them access to the charge.8U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Can Expect After a Charge is Filed From there, the case moves toward either mediation or investigation.
If your charge is eligible, the EEOC may invite both sides to voluntary mediation before any investigation begins. If it settles, the case closes. If it doesn’t, the charge moves to the investigation track, where the agency may interview witnesses, request documents, and look for reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred.9U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Resolving a Charge
Investigations often take many months. You don’t have to wait. Once your charge has been pending for 180 days, you can request your right to sue letter and move directly to court.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit
Get Your Right to Sue Letter
The EEOC issues a “Dismissal and Notice of Rights,” commonly called a right to sue letter, when it closes its file. That may mean the agency found insufficient evidence, couldn’t resolve the matter, or simply ran out of time. Whatever the reason, the letter is your ticket to court.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit
You can also request the letter yourself after 180 days, and the EEOC is required to issue it if you ask.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit The moment you receive the letter, a hard 90-day clock starts. File your lawsuit within those 90 days or the claim is almost certainly gone for good.
File the Complaint in Federal Court
Your lawsuit begins with a complaint. It identifies you and the employer, lays out the facts, states which laws were violated, and specifies what you want: money damages, reinstatement, or both. The complaint sets the boundaries of your case, so precision matters.
Filing costs $405 in federal district court, which includes a $55 administrative fee on top of the base statutory filing fee.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1914 – District Court Filing and Miscellaneous Fees If you can’t afford it, you can apply to proceed “in forma pauperis” by filing an affidavit showing you’re unable to pay, and the court can waive the fee.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1915 – Proceedings in Forma Pauperis
Serving the Employer
After filing, you must formally deliver the complaint and a court-issued summons to the employer. This step, called service of process, is what gives the court authority over the defendant. You can hire a private process server or use a local sheriff’s department to hand-deliver the documents to an authorized company representative. You have 90 days from filing to complete service. Miss that window without good cause and the court can dismiss the case, though typically without prejudice.12Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons
What Happens Once the Lawsuit Is Filed
The Employer’s Answer
Once served, the employer generally has 21 days to file an answer admitting or denying each allegation and raising defenses.13Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12 – Defenses and Objections If the employer waives formal service, the deadline extends to 60 days. Some employers instead file an early motion to dismiss, arguing the complaint fails on legal grounds even if every fact in it is true.
Discovery
Discovery is where both sides exchange evidence, and it’s where most of the work happens. Interrogatories are written questions the other side must answer under oath. Requests for production compel the employer to turn over internal documents such as emails, memos, personnel files, and policy manuals. Depositions are live, recorded interviews of witnesses under oath, transcribed by a court reporter.14U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A Guide to the Discovery Process for Unrepresented Complainants
Summary Judgment
After discovery closes, the employer will almost certainly file a motion for summary judgment, asking the judge to end the case without a trial. The employer has to show there’s no genuine dispute over any material fact and that it’s entitled to win as a matter of law.15Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment Many discrimination cases end here. To survive, you need enough evidence that a reasonable jury could find in your favor, which is why the record you started building at the beginning matters so much.
What You Can Recover If You Win
Back pay covers the wages and benefits you lost from the discriminatory act to the court’s decision, including salary, overtime, bonuses, health insurance contributions, and retirement benefits. Under Title VII, back pay is limited to two years before you filed your charge.16U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Chapter 11 Remedies Front pay compensates for future lost earnings when reinstatement isn’t practical, such as when the working relationship has become too hostile or the position no longer exists.17U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Front Pay
Compensatory damages cover out-of-pocket losses and emotional distress. Punitive damages punish employers that acted with malice or reckless indifference. Under Title VII and the ADA, the combined total of compensatory and punitive damages is capped based on employer size, ranging from $50,000 for employers with 15 to 100 employees up to $300,000 for those with more than 500.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 1981a – Damages in Cases of Intentional Discrimination The caps do not apply to back pay or front pay, which are uncapped equitable remedies.
ADEA claims work differently. Instead of compensatory and punitive damages, the ADEA allows liquidated damages (essentially double the back pay award) when the employer’s violation was willful, meaning the employer knew or recklessly disregarded that its conduct was illegal.19Ninth Circuit District and Bankruptcy Courts. Age Discrimination – Damages – Willful Discrimination – Liquidated Damages
Courts can also order your employer to give you your job back, promote you, or change discriminatory policies through an injunction.16U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Chapter 11 Remedies
Paying a Lawyer
Most employment discrimination attorneys work on contingency, taking a percentage of whatever you recover, typically between 33% and 50% depending on whether the case settles early or goes to trial. You pay nothing upfront, and if you lose, you generally owe no legal fees.
Federal anti-discrimination laws also include a fee-shifting provision. If you win, the court can order your employer to pay your reasonable attorney fees and expert witness costs on top of your damages.20Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 2000e-5 – Enforcement Provisions That provision is designed to make discrimination claims financially viable for workers.
Retaliation While Your Case Is Pending
Filing an EEOC charge, participating in an investigation, and testifying on someone else’s behalf are all protected activities. Your employer cannot retaliate against you for engaging in any of them, and the protection applies even if your underlying discrimination claim ultimately lacks merit.21U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues
Retaliation isn’t limited to firing. Demotions, pay cuts, schedule changes designed to make you quit, exclusion from meetings, sudden negative reviews, and reassignment to dead-end work can all qualify. If an adverse action follows closely after a protected activity, the timing alone may support a retaliation claim, which you can add to your existing charge or file separately.
Filing a charge does not make you immune from legitimate discipline. Employers can still hold you to the same performance standards and workplace rules that apply to everyone else.21U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues The protection is against actions motivated by your complaint, not a shield against any negative employment decision.