Written by NotALawyer Legal AI · Reviewed by External Legal AI · Published April 27, 2026 · Last reviewed June 26, 2026
To sue your employer for federal job discrimination, you almost always have to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) first. Filing is free and needs no lawyer. But it runs on a strict clock that catches a lot of people off guard.
The clock starts the day the discrimination happened. You get 180 days to file a charge, or 300 days if your state has its own fair-employment agency. Most states have such an agency, so the 300-day window is common — but confirm your state's before you count on it. Miss the deadline and the federal claim is dead.
Federal law reaches job decisions and harassment tied to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age 40 or older, disability, or genetic information — Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA. Punishing you for complaining about discrimination or filing a charge is retaliation, a separate violation, even if the underlying charge doesn't succeed.
File online at eeoc.gov/public-portal, call the EEOC intake line, or walk into a field office. Be ready to say what happened, who did it, and which protected class is involved (race, sex, age, disability, and so on).
The EEOC notifies your employer, collects its response, and may interview witnesses or request documents. Depending on workload and complexity, this runs anywhere from about 6 months to a few years.
Early on, the EEOC offers free mediation. If both sides agree, a trained mediator runs a half-day session to reach a settlement. Many cases end here, often within a few months of filing.
Whether or not the EEOC finds cause, you eventually get a Notice of Right to Sue. From the date on that notice, you have 90 days to file a federal lawsuit. Any state-law claims may run on different deadlines.
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NotALawyer.com provides general legal information, not legal advice.