If you are an employee or job applicant and you believe that you are the victim of discrimination in the workplace or you have been the target of unlawful discrimination, It’s important to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC).
However, remember that it is also illegal to discriminate against people because they filed a discrimination complaint or participated in an investigation or lawsuit.
How to File Discrimination Claim? What should you do?
As a preliminary step, review New York State and New York City laws. Combined, these laws cover nearly every form of discrimination. Unless your discrimination complaint arises from one of the few areas covered by city law but not by state law — e.g., gender identity discrimination — you should probably begin your case at the state level. You only have 180 days from the last day on which the discrimination took place to file a claim, so move fast; six months can go by much quicker than you might think!
You may file your complaint with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission or with the New York State Division of Human Rights. Your complaint must be in writing, and should contain:
- Your name, address and phone number, or the name, address and phone number of the person for whom you are filing the complaint
- The name and address of the agency or person you believe discriminated against you
- How, why and when you believe the discrimination took place
- The types of discrimination involved in the case, e.g., race, sex/gender, disability, pregnancy, age, etc.
- The names of any people involved in the discrimination, including any non-participating witnesses
- Your signature and your representative’s signature, if applicable, as well as the date
- Any other information or documentation that would help the reader understand the complaint.
Time Limit For Filing A Discrimination Complaint
There are strict time limits for filing a job discrimination complaint with the EEOC. You must file discrimination complaints within 180 days of the day on which the discrimination took place. You should contact us immediately if you believe your employer is discriminating against you. We can help you determine whether your job discrimination complaint is within the correct time limit.
Contact Us Today
The best solution is to work with a New York employment discrimination lawyer who already knows the system. While you do not need a lawyer to file your initial discrimination complaint with the state or federal agency, nothing prevents you from working with one, and their experience may be the difference between winning and losing your case.
