Harassed, discriminated against, or punished for speaking up at work? Here is how to file with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), protect your federal rights with the EEOC, and get through the one-year waiting period to court — even without a lawyer.
Our honest advice: read this, then talk to an employment lawyer before you file. Pennsylvania's 180-day deadline is short, and a late or incomplete complaint can cost you claims you can never get back.
Pennsylvania's main anti-discrimination law, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA), requires you to file with the PHRC (or, in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations) before you can sue under it. Federal laws like Title VII and the ADA run through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The two agencies share charges, so most employees file once and have it count for both — but only if the timing is right.
Follow these in order. Each step builds on the last, and skipping one can sink your case.
The PHRA forbids employment discrimination because of race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age (40 and over), sex, national origin, non-job-related disability, or use of a guide or support animal. PHRC regulations adopted in 2023 say "sex" includes pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression, and "race" includes traits associated with race such as hair texture and protective hairstyles. Pennsylvania's CROWN Act (Act 54 of 2025), signed November 25, 2025 and in effect since late January 2026, wrote these hair protections into the PHRA itself and also protects head coverings and hairstyles associated with a person's religion. The law also forbids retaliation for opposing discrimination or for filing, testifying, or helping in a PHRA proceeding.
Most Pennsylvania employees should file with the PHRC within 180 days and ask that the complaint be dual-filed with the EEOC. Only one agency investigates, and dual-filing preserves your rights under both state and federal law.
Download the PHRC's Employment Intake Questionnaire (English or Spanish) from pa.gov/agencies/phrc. Email the completed questionnaire to phrc@pa.gov, or mail it to the regional office nearest you. If your claim involves a disability, include the PHRC's Disability Information Release form. PHRC staff can help you decide whether to file and will draft the formal complaint for your verified signature.
What you put in your PHRC complaint shapes everything that follows. Claims, protected traits, and people you leave out can be challenged later.
The PHRC gives your complaint a docket number and serves it on your employer within 30 days. Your employer must file a written answer and give you a copy. Keep every letter and write down every date.
The PHRA gives the PHRC the first chance to resolve your case. If the PHRC dismisses your complaint, or hasn't reached a conciliation agreement that includes you within one year of your filing, it must notify you. Once you receive that notice, you can sue under the PHRA in a Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. Courts have allowed suit after one year even if the notice never arrives — but don't withdraw your PHRC complaint early, or you may lose the right to sue.
⚠️ You must file that lawsuit within 2 years of the date of the PHRC's notice closing your complaint, and serve a copy of your court complaint on the PHRC when you file. Track the date printed on the notice, not the date you opened it.Want federal claims too (Title VII, ADA, age discrimination)? Make sure your complaint was dual-filed with the EEOC — the deadline there is 300 days. After the EEOC issues a Notice of Right to Sue, a federal lawsuit must be filed within 90 days of receiving it (age claims can be filed 60 days after the charge without a notice, but if the EEOC closes the charge and notifies you first, you must sue within 90 days of receiving that notice). You can usually ask for that notice once 180 days have passed since your charge was filed.
State court: PHRA lawsuits are filed in the Court of Common Pleas, usually in a county where the discrimination happened (different venue rules apply to corporations, partnerships, and government defendants).
Federal court: With an EEOC Notice of Right to Sue (not needed for age claims), you can file federal claims in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern, Middle, or Western District of Pennsylvania within 90 days. Your PHRA claims can often be included once the PHRC's one year has passed. A jury may be available in federal court.
💡 Self-help information and forms: pacourts.us and your county court's website.Enter the date of the last act of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation (for example, your termination date). We'll estimate the key filing deadlines.
Estimates only. Special rules can shorten or extend these deadlines (for example, if your employer is a government agency, if the facts were concealed, or if the "last incident" is disputed). Under Pennsylvania law, a statutory deadline that falls on a weekend or legal holiday generally moves to the next business day, and the EEOC follows a similar rule — but file early and don't rely on the extension. Confirm your deadlines with a lawyer.
Usually not under the PHRA. The PHRA's main discrimination ban applies to the employer. Individuals can be personally liable mainly for aiding, abetting, inciting, compelling, or coercing discrimination, and for retaliation. Federal courts applying that provision have allowed claims against a supervisor who knew about harassment and refused to stop it, but have held that a coworker's own harassment, without more, isn't enough.
A harassing coworker may still face personal claims outside the PHRA, such as assault or battery. Those have their own 2-year deadline and don't go through the PHRC. In most cases, naming the employer and any supervisors who knew is what protects your rights. A lawyer can tell you whether a personal claim is worth bringing.
| Related claim | Typical deadline |
|---|---|
| Federal EEOC charge | 300 days |
| Federal lawsuit after EEOC notice | 90 days from receipt |
| Defamation (false statements about you) | 1 year |
| Assault, battery, other intentional or negligent harm | 2 years |
| Injury-type tort claims against a government employer | Written notice to the government unit within 6 months (and to the Attorney General if it is a Commonwealth agency). Immunity rules may bar some claims entirely. |
| Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law (government and certain publicly funded employers) | 180 days — lawsuit filed in court, not with the PHRC |
| Unpaid wages (Wage Payment and Collection Law) | 3 years from when the wages were due |
| Federal Equal Pay Act | 2 years (3 if willful); no agency filing needed |
These claims don't go through the PHRC. Don't assume that a PHRC filing pauses their deadlines.
Pennsylvania's system has short deadlines, a mandatory agency process, and different rules for state, federal, and city claims. What you file — and when — can decide your case before it ever reaches a courtroom. Your employer will have lawyers from day one. You deserve the same.
Talk to an employment lawyer about your Pennsylvania case today.
(215) 391-4790Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC
Responsible attorney: Derek T. Smith, Esq.
1628 Pine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Over $500 million in settlements and verdicts obtained for employees firm-wide, across all offices* · We represent employees, not employers
*Gross amounts. Each result depended on the facts of that case, and results will differ if based on different facts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
For PHRA claims, yes. Pennsylvania courts require you to use the PHRC process first (in Philadelphia, a filing with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations can also count). If you skip it or miss the 180-day deadline, you almost always lose the right to bring PHRA claims in court (only narrow exceptions, such as equitable tolling, can save a late complaint). That's called "exhausting administrative remedies." Federal claims have their own requirement: a timely EEOC charge.
For employment complaints that also involve federally protected rights, the PHRC files the complaint with the EEOC too, and only one agency investigates. Ask PHRC staff to confirm your complaint is dual-filed. If you file with the EEOC instead, ask in writing that your charge be dual-filed with the PHRC, and do it within 180 days — a federal appeals court has held that an EEOC filing protects PHRA claims only if it actually reaches the PHRC.
Not on PHRA claims. You can bring them in court only after the PHRC dismisses your complaint, or after one year passes without a conciliation agreement (the PHRC should notify you, but courts have allowed suit even if it doesn't). Federal claims can go to court sooner, once the EEOC issues a Notice of Right to Sue (you can usually request one 180 days after filing your charge). Your PHRA claims can often be added once the PHRC's year is up. A lawyer can help you sequence this.
Not on PHRA claims in Pennsylvania state court. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that the PHRA does not provide a jury trial; a judge decides. Federal discrimination claims seeking damages can be tried to a jury in federal court, which is one reason many employees bring PHRA claims together with federal claims there.
A court can order the employer to stop the discrimination and can award reinstatement or hiring, back pay (going back no more than three years before your PHRC complaint was filed), and other legal or equitable relief. If you win, the court may also order the employer to pay your attorney's fees and costs (and a court can make an employee pay the employer's fees if the case was brought in bad faith). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that punitive damages are not available under the PHRA. Federal law allows capped punitive damages against private employers, and Philadelphia's ordinance allows punitive damages in court.
You can still file with the PHRC and the EEOC. But an arbitration agreement may require your lawsuit to go before an arbitrator instead of a court. For sexual harassment and sexual assault claims arising on or after March 3, 2022, federal law lets you choose to go to court even if you signed a pre-dispute arbitration agreement. Have a lawyer review any agreement you signed.
The dismissal notice will explain your appeal rights. Read it carefully and write down its date — a request for a preliminary hearing to challenge the dismissal must be filed within 10 days of receiving the notice. Also, the PHRC's notice closing your complaint starts your 2-year deadline to sue under the PHRA in the Court of Common Pleas. Talk to a lawyer right away — don't let an appeal or reconsideration request run out your court deadline.
Yes. The PHRC serves your complaint on your employer, which must respond. Retaliating against you for filing, testifying, or helping in a PHRC case is itself illegal under the PHRA — and is a separate claim.
