Any employee who believes their employment rights were violated can file a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. This includes job applicants, current employees and past employees.
You don’t need to be employed full time in order to file a complaint, as temporary, part-time and seasonal employees may also file a job discrimination complaint with the EEOC.
In addition, an organization, individual or agency can file a job discrimination complaint on behalf of someone else in order to protect that individual’s identity.
Who Can File a Complaint with the EEOC?
Those that are considered to be a member of a “protected class” are eligible to file a job discrimination complaint with the EEOC. They can file a complaint based on the following examples of prohibited actions.
- They have been the victim of unfair treatment at work due to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, disability, age (40 years or older) or genetic information.
- They have been harassed at work due to membership of a protected class.
- They have been treated unfairly or harassed due to complaining about job discrimination, or for assisting someone else with a job discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
This complaint is called a "Charge of Discrimination." All the laws the EEOC enforces, except for the Equal Pay Act, require that a Charge of Discrimination is filed with the EEOC before a job discrimination lawsuit is filed against your employer.
There are time limits in place when filing a job discrimination complaint with the EEOC which is typically 180 days but 300 days if the complaint is also covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law.
Can I File an EEOC Complaint If I Am a Part-time Employee?
Yes, you are eligible to file a complaint if you work in a part-time capacity.
Can Someone File an EEOC Complaint on My Behalf?
Yes, an organization/individual/agency/etc. can file a claim on your behalf if for some reason your identity needs to be kept private. If you prefer to remain anonymous, the complaint can be filed by a person or an organization on your behalf.
In these cases, the EEOC doesn’t normally tell the employer who the charge was filed on behalf of, but it will inform the employer the name of the person or organization who filed the charge.
As soon as a charge is filed, the complainant’s name and basic information about the allegations of discrimination will be revealed to the employer.
The EEOC must notify the employer of the charge within 10 days of the date it was filed the course of the investigation and the EEOC may share certain information with the charging party and the respondent.
Get Help With Your EEOC Complaint
It is important to contact an attorney as soon as possible as there are time limits for filing charges of discrimination with the EEOC. The attorney can help you gather the right evidence to prove you have been a victim of discrimination at work.
