Time Limits to File Sexual Harassment Complaints / Sue

A stopwatch counts the seconds to a deadline

Federal: Time Limits to File an EEOC Complaint

Before a victim of discrimination can sue an employer for a violation of Title VII (like a sexual harassment claim), or under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the ADA or the ADEA, they must first file a written charge of discrimination.

The written charge of discrimination can be filed directly with the EEOC.

However, given the number of states that have overlapping or overarching law atop the federal laws mentioned above, in all US states but five there are state or local agencies with a work sharing agreement in place with the EEOC.

Collectively, these agencies are called FEPAs (Fair Employment Practices Agencies).

Their names vary widely from state to state.

If a victim files a charge with their FEPA, the FEPA will automatically cross-file with the EEOC if the federal laws apply, but the FEPA will handle the processing of the charge.

If instead the victim files a charge with the EEOC directly, and there is relevant overlapping state or local law and a FEPA with a work-sharing agreement in place, the EEOC will cross-file with the FEPA, but the EEOC will handle the processing of the charge.

The reason this matters is that in order to preserve a discrimination claim under state or local law such as the IHRA or City of Chicago law, the claim must be filed with the local FEPA. Cross-filing by the EEOC does count, however.

There are a lot of good reasons a victim might file with a FEPA rather than with the EEOC directly.

For example:

The illinois state flag in between two USA flags

♦ The state or local law’s wider applicability. For example, to employers with as few as 1 employee under Illinois’ HRA versus 15 or more employees under Title VII.

♦ Longer deadlines (more on this below).

♦ Faster access to information and better support locally.

♦ Potential for a smaller caseload and faster processing.

♦ Potential to appeal to the EEOC for review if the decision reached by the FEPA seems flawed or might have been different under federal purview.

In states without a FEPA, the deadline is 180 days from when the discrimination took place.

But in Illinois, which has a FEPA, the deadlines are longer, and in the City of Chicago, longer still. We’ll get to that in just a moment.

Not included in the list of Federal laws stated at the top of this section above, is the Equal Pay Act.

Unlike other laws enforced by the EEOC, an employee is not required to file a charge with the EEOC or their FEPA before suing their employer for discrimination in pay.

Illinois and Chicago Deadlines

OK, so we said that:

Illinois has a FEPA, and

the City of Chicago has its own FEPA.

In Illinois and other states with a FEPA, the deadline for filing one of these types of discrimination complaints is extended to

300 days,

except for certain ADEA claims/situations.

Workers in the State of Illinois but outside Chicago would want to file with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Their contact information is in the shaded box here.

Illinois Dept. of Human Rights
100 W Randolph St.
Suite 10-100
Chicago, IL 60601
312-814-6200
800-662-3942
www.state.il.us/dhr
IDHR.webmail@illinois.gov

In the City of Chicago, the deadline is extended to

365 days.

Chicago Commission on Human Relations
740 N. Sedgwick, 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 744-4474 or
(312) 744-4111
(312)744-1081 (fax)
(312)744-1088 (TTY)
www.Chicago.gov/CCHR
cchr@cityofchicago.org

Workers in the City of Chicago would want to file with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. Their contact information is in the shaded box here.

Chicago City Ordinance 2022-665 did one more thing with regard to deadlines.

For cases of sexual harassment in particular, the ordinance extended the amount of time that the Chicago Commission on Human Relations has to tell someone who is accused of sexual harassment (called the “respondent”) that a complaint has been made against them.

They now have 30 days to let the accused know. This is up from 10 days before.

The City’s stated reason for this change is to protect complaining workers from potential retaliation such as denial of a reasonable accommodation request.