Let’s assume that you have just been fired from your job and the reason given by the employer is not true. Let’s further assume that you have good reason to believe that the real reason is because of discrimination based on either your race, gender, age, disability, national origin or religion and you have evidence to back that up. You lost a good job and the income it provides through no fault of your own and you realize that it is going to take months to find a new position. And, when you finally get another job offer, the pay maybe less than what you made before. You want file a lawsuit against your employer to recover the economic loss you have sustained as a result of wrongful employment discrimination. It may come as a surprise to find out that, to get an employment discrimination case into federal or state court, you can’t just file a complaint; you have to start with filing a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and/or the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (“PHRC”).

Under federal law, a charge of discrimination must be filed with the EEOC’s office for the geographic area that you work or live within 180 days of the discriminatory action at issue (i.e., termination, demotion, retaliation or harassment). This deadline can be extended to 300 days for states that have “Fair Employment Practices Agencies” (“FEPAS”) which are typically the state agency analogs to the EEOC. Pennsylvania falls into this category because of its PHRC. If you do not file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC in a timely manner, your claim for employment discrimination will be barred. Since this time period to file a claim is relatively short, it is very important to act quickly after your termination to protect your rights.

Filing a charge of discrimination with the EEOC typically begins with filling out a form called an “Intake Questionnaire”. This form is located on the EEOC’s website and can be downloaded and filled out from your computer. The form collects information about you, including your address and contact information, your employer’s information and then asks several questions about the type of discrimination you are alleging, information about your claim and contact information for individuals who were witnesses or otherwise can support your contentions.

After you complete the form and send it to the EEOC, the agency will typically contact you to arrange for you to come to the office to work with an investigator to prepare a formal charge of discrimination or that may be done over the phone. After the formal charge is prepared, you will need to sign and date it and return it to the EEOC for filing. After the charge of discrimination has been received by the EEOC, the agency will assign it a docket number. In Pennsylvania, the EEOC will “cross-file” the charge of discrimination with the PHRC at your request.

As a general rule, the EEOC retains jurisdiction over your charge of discrimination for at least 180 days, giving it time to do an investigation and to attempt to resolve the claim through EEOC-sponsored mediation or some other form of alternative dispute resolution – if both parties are agreeable.

If the charge of discrimination has not been resolved within 180 days, you can request the agency to terminate its investigation and issue what is called a “Notice of Right to Sue”. The EEOC will send you a one-page document to that effect. Upon receipt of the notice, you will have 90 days to file your case in federal court. If you wait longer than 90 days to do so, your claim will be barred. Therefore, it is very important to be ready to file a complaint in federal court promptly after receipt of a right to sue notice.

Although you can prepare and file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC yourself, it is advisable to work with an experienced employment discrimination attorney from the beginning. If you engage me to represent you, I meet with you to discuss the background of the case, do the necessary investigation to gather evidence that supports your claims and prepare the documents to be filed with the EEOC that tells your story in a clear, concise and hard-hitting way. I find that doing a good job on the charge of discrimination creates a good foundation and makes preparing the complaint to be filed in federal court much more effective. Getting me involved in the case at this early stage allows us more time to develop the case fully and to get it ready for court.

Any type of litigation can be a long, time-consuming process and with the right approach from the beginning you can improve your chances of success. It is very important to remember that, with employment discrimination claims, getting you case into court starts with getting a charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC.