Workplace Discrimination? Get that Complaint Filed!

3 Key Takeaways

  1. Federal law protects employees from many forms of workplace discrimination — and most states add even more protections on top of that.

  2. There are strict deadlines for filing a complaint. Missing them can cost you your right to take action, even if your case is strong.

  3. You don't have to have all the answers before reaching out. Getting informed early can make all the difference.

You have more protection than you might think

If you've experienced harassment or discrimination at work, you should know that the law is on your side, and has been for decades. Federal law protects employees from a wide range of mistreatment on the job, and understanding those protections is the first step toward knowing what your options are.

What the law actually covers

The foundation of workplace discrimination law in this country is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Before it was passed, some federal protections existed, particularly around race and national origin, but Title VII significantly expanded those rights. Today, it protects employees from discrimination and harassment based on:

Race

Sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity)

National origin

Religion

Age

Disability

Any employer with 15 or more employees is subject to Title VII, and because it's a federal law, it applies the same way in every state.

The role of the EEOC

Title VII also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency responsible for receiving and investigating workplace discrimination complaints. If you want to bring a discrimination claim in federal court, you're generally required to go through the EEOC's process first. Think of it as a necessary first step before anything can move forward legally. You can learn more or start a complaint directly through the EEOC's website.

The deadlines you really need to know

This is where a lot of people get tripped up, so pay close attention. Under Title VII, you typically have 180 calendar days from the date of discrimination to file a complaint with the EEOC. However, if your state has its own workplace discrimination law, which most do, including New York, that window extends to 300 days.

A handful of states, like New Mexico and Georgia, don't have their own statutes, which means those employees are limited to the 180-day window.

Here's the part that matters most: The clock starts ticking when the harm occurs. You can't wait two years to see how things play out and then file. If the deadline passes, your claim can be completely barred, even if what happened to you was serious and clearly wrong.

One important exception: Ongoing harassment

There's something called a "continuous violation" that many employees don't know about, and it can actually work in your favor. If you experienced repeated harassment over a period of time, say, months of unwanted comments or advances, the deadline doesn't start from the very first incident. It starts from the last occurrence. So if the harassment was ongoing, you may have more time than you think.

The best time to reach out is now

You don't need to have everything figured out before talking to someone. In fact, the earlier you get information, the better. Whether you eventually decide to take action or not, knowing where you stand, and how much time you have, can protect your options down the road.

If you think something at work hasn't felt right, contact us or visit the EEOC's resource page to learn more. A quick conversation now could make a real difference later.

Interpreting Title VII

For decades, there was a live debate about whether federal law protected LGBTQ+ employees from workplace discrimination. The argument went like this: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin — but it never explicitly mentioned sexual orientation or gender identity. Congress had considered expanding the law but never passed it. Courts were split. Workers in some states had protection; workers in others didn’t.

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Employment Discrimination-Know Your Rights

Sometimes it’s a pattern of being passed over, treated differently, or pushed out. Other times it’s more direct. Either way, if something about how you’re being treated at work feels wrong, it’s worth understanding what the law actually protects — because the answer might surprise you.

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Will Obama End Employment Discrimination?

President Obama seems to hold the key which unlocked the door to his victory. What is the key to his success you ask? Simply addressing long lasting social issues. Close to two times as many women than men find concerns like same-sex marriage, abortion, and Employment Discrimination as the most important issues that determined their vote, based on recently reported polling information.
When it comes to discrimination in the workplace, Presidents over the years have issued orders to protect workers against it. In 1941 President Roosevelt issued an order that prevented discrimination against any worker because of their race, creed and national origin. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was released two decades later, which outlaws employment discrimination based on  religion, sex and race. Since Obama has been in office, he has addressed issues of employment discrimination and in 2011 he agreed to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. He abolished “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and openly supports the gay community and same sex marriage. That’s great for Obama, but what about the rest of the country? As it stands today, 21 states have outlawed sexual-orientation discrimination, while 16 also forbid gender-identity discrimination, and many cities and counties have similar nondiscrimination laws. But only about half of the population of the United States lives in places with such laws, which leaves millions of workers undefendable against discrimination.
Who is being Discriminated Against?
Nowadays, even though the world has widely accepted individuality and self expression, discrimination against women in the workplace still occurs. It is also distributed amongst lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people. A recent research study found that in the last five years, 27% of lesbian, gay or bisexual people had been harassed at work or lost a job because of their sexual orientation. In addition to that, half of transgender people had experienced discrimination in hiring, promotion or job retention. Discrimination can also be found in their paychecks. Studies also show that they earn less than heterosexual men with the same qualifications. Pay discrimination can also be found with women who, despite holding the same positions as men, are receiving less pay than men for doing the same job. Even though studies also show that there are more women attending colleges than men, women are still given less of a chance at flourishing financially in comparison to men in the workplace.
What Can Be Done?
There is currently a Democratic bill that has long been sitting in Congress, which Obama supports, called the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act would require employers to show that any salary differences between men and women doing the same job are not gender-related. The bill also would have prohibited employers from retaliating against employees who share salary information with their co-workers. The bill never passed because it could not gain the support of the Republican party.