Going to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Did you know that in order to file an employment discrimination or harassment claim in Federal Court you’d need to first file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and obtain a Right to Sue letter?

The EEOC is a federal agency that focuses on claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for harassment and/or discrimination, as well as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Whether it’s a claim of discrimination of sex, religion, race, or some other protected status, the EEOC will do an investigation of your specific situation.

Here at Gold Star Law, we assist with or refer many of our callers who have experienced illegal discrimination to file a claim with the EEOC. When filing a claim, you will be appointed an EEOC investigator. That investigator is responsible for gathering the proper documentation from both sides of the claim in order to do a proper investigation. The EEOC investigator handles investigating the situation that happened at the workplace and may schedule meetings between the Charging Party and the Respondents to get both sides of the story.

The EEOC process can sometimes take anywhere from one month to more than a year. However, when filing a claim with the EEOC there is a time limit as to when you can file. There is usually a 300 day cut off from when the incident(s) occurred. The EEOC will not take any cases older than the deadline, which is why it is important to report your situation immediately. At the end of your claim at the EEOC, your investigator will most likely issue out a Notice of Suit Rights, known as a Right to Sue letter. This letter will be dated for the day it was mailed out. From the date on the Right to Sue, there is only 90 days to file a lawsuit in Federal Court. It is very important that once a Right to Sue is received you get in contact with the EEOC and request your full EEOC file. This file will have all the documentation that the EEOC investigator has obtained throughout the time your case was with the EEOC. We suggest requesting your file right away because it can take up to 3 weeks for you to receive the file.

Once you have your EEOC file, contact us so one of our Gold Star Law attorneys can review your EEOC file. If you feel that you have been harassed or discriminated in the workplace, call Gold Star Law at (248) 851-GOLD.