Position Statement Template for EEOC Charges: Structure and Deadline

There is no official EEOC position statement template. The agency does not hand out a fill-in-the-blank form; instead, it publishes guidance on what an effective statement must contain, and you build the document yourself.¹ You typically have 30 days from the EEOC’s request to submit it with supporting documents, and whatever you write can be shared with the person who filed the charge.²

What the EEOC Requires in the Document

The EEOC’s guidance asks for specific, factual responses to every allegation in the charge, plus any other facts you think are relevant. At a minimum, the agency wants a description of your organization: legal name, address, and the name, title, phone number, and email of the person handling the response. Beyond that, you need dates, actions, and locations tied to the charge, and you need to identify anyone else affected by the same policies or practices and explain why they were or were not treated similarly.¹

Blanket denials do not work. “We don’t discriminate” tells the investigator nothing. The statement has to walk through what happened, with documents behind every claim.

A Structure That Works

Most effective position statements follow the same order:

Organizational overview with the required contact information
A chronological statement of facts covering the employment relationship
Point-by-point responses to each allegation in the charge
A discussion of comparator employees and how similar situations were handled
References to supporting exhibits, with confidential material in separate labeled attachments

Treat the document as a persuasive factual narrative rather than a legal brief. Investigators read a lot of these, and a clear, organized account reads differently from a defensive one.

Writing the Statement of Facts

Build a clean chronological narrative: when the person was hired, their role, their performance history, and the events leading to the action that prompted the charge. Every assertion should trace back to a specific record. When you reach the adverse action itself, spell out the legitimate business reason. If you fired someone for attendance violations, include the attendance records, the warnings you issued, and your attendance policy. If you denied a promotion, explain the selection criteria and how the chosen candidate met them.

Gaps in the timeline are exactly what investigators notice, and they tend to draw unfavorable conclusions from missing records. If a performance improvement plan preceded a termination, produce every version of it, including the signed copy and the follow-up notes.

Responding to Each Allegation

Address every allegation individually. If the charge alleges retaliation after a harassment complaint, walk through exactly what happened between the complaint and the adverse action, with dates and documentation at each step. If the charge alleges disparate discipline, show how you handled similar situations with other employees. Consistent enforcement of policies across the workforce is one of the strongest defenses available.

Keep Your Stated Reason Consistent

In most discrimination cases, investigators evaluate the evidence through the framework the Supreme Court established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green. The framework operates in three stages: the charging party establishes a basic case of discrimination; the burden shifts to you to offer a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for your action; and the charging party then gets to argue your reason is a cover for discrimination.³

Your position statement lives in the second stage, but you should write it with the third in mind. The charging party will argue your reason is a pretext, so the reason has to be consistent across every document you submit. If your termination letter cited poor performance but your position statement emphasizes attendance, the investigator will see the mismatch and treat it as a credibility problem.

Gathering Your Documentation

Start pulling records the day you receive the charge notice. Personnel files, performance evaluations, disciplinary write-ups, internal emails, and any company policies in effect during the relevant time period all belong in the pile. If the charge alleges different treatment, you need records for the comparator employees too. Organize everything chronologically.

Once a charge is filed, federal regulations require you to preserve all personnel records relevant to that charge until the matter is fully resolved, including records for employees in similar positions. “Final disposition” means either that the deadline for the charging party to file a lawsuit has passed, or, if a lawsuit was filed, that it has been resolved.⁴ Destroying or losing relevant records during an active charge is one of the fastest ways to undermine your position.

Separating Confidential Information

Anything you submit may end up in the charging party’s hands. The EEOC shares the position statement and non-confidential attachments with the charging party upon request, so sensitive material has to go into properly labeled attachments the agency can redact.⁵

The EEOC requires the following categories to be placed in separate, clearly labeled attachments:²

Sensitive medical information for witnesses or comparators. The charging party’s own medical information is not treated as confidential in the context of their charge.
Social Security numbers for any individual mentioned in the documents.
Confidential commercial or financial information, such as compensation structures or client data.
Trade secrets, including proprietary processes or formulas.
Non-relevant personal identifiers: home addresses, personal phone numbers, personal email addresses, and dates of birth for witnesses or comparators (in non-age cases).
References to discrimination charges filed by other employees.

In the body of the statement, refer to confidential material without spelling it out. Something like “comparator employee’s medical records are provided in Confidential Attachment B” works. The EEOC will not accept vague or blanket claims of confidentiality; each attachment needs the correct category label and an explanation of why the information qualifies.²

Submitting Through the Respondent Portal

The EEOC’s Respondent Portal is the standard submission method. After receiving the charge notice, you log in and upload the position statement with all supporting attachments.⁶ The portal requires you to categorize each upload as one of three document types: Position Statement, Position Statement Attachments – Non-Confidential, or Position Statement Attachments – Confidential.⁷

There is currently no limit on file type or file size for portal uploads.⁸ Label your exhibits clearly anyway. An investigator working through a hundred pages of unsorted attachments is not going to work harder for you. Once you click “Save Upload,” the submission is final; you cannot retract documents after they are submitted. The portal will confirm receipt and email designated contacts at your organization.⁷

The 30-Day Deadline and Extensions

You generally have 30 days from the date the EEOC requests the position statement to submit it with all attachments.² That window disappears fast when the charge involves multiple employees, complex medical records, or events spanning several years. Thirty days has to cover gathering records, interviewing relevant managers, and actually drafting the document.

If you need more time, the EEOC requires you to request an extension at the earliest possible time, not the day before the deadline.² Contact the assigned investigator early and explain the specific reason. A request tied to a concrete obstacle, such as waiting on records from a third-party payroll provider, carries more weight than a general claim of being busy.

Missing the deadline or ignoring the request does not stop the investigation. It just means the EEOC proceeds based solely on the charging party’s account, and you lose your best opportunity to put your version of events on the record.

What Happens After You Submit

The EEOC will share the position statement, along with non-confidential attachments, with the charging party upon request. The charging party then has 20 days to submit a written response.⁵ Here is the piece that catches many employers off guard: the EEOC does not share that response with you. The charging party sees your arguments and counters them, but you do not get to rebut the rebuttal. Write the position statement with that asymmetry in mind. Anticipate the likely counterarguments and address them in the initial submission.

Investigations run long. The average time to investigate and resolve a charge was about 11 months in the most recent data the EEOC has published.⁶ The investigator may ask for additional information, conduct interviews, or request a supplemental response along the way. The investigation ends either with a finding of reasonable cause or a dismissal. Separately, the EEOC may offer mediation shortly after the charge is filed; mediation is voluntary, and if either side declines or no agreement is reached, the case moves to investigation and you submit your position statement as normal.⁹

1
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Effective Position Statements
2
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Questions and Answers for Respondents on EEOC’s Position Statement Procedures
3
Legal Information Institute. McDonnell Douglas Corporation v Percy Green
4
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Summary of Selected Recordkeeping Obligations in 29 CFR Part 1602
5
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Questions and Answers for Charging Parties on EEOC’s New Position Statement Procedures
6
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Can Expect After a Charge is Filed
7
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEOC Respondent Portal User’s Guide
8
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Questions and Answers EEOC’s Digital Charge System and Phase I – Respondent Portal
9
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mediation