When May I Initiate an Employment Discrimination Lawsuit in Court?

Well, there’s definite rules under the federal law, state law, and then even New York City has some special rules, so they’re a little bit specific. But essentially, you can file your complaint in federal court after you file with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and get what’s called a right to sue letter. That generally occurs within 180 days of filing the complaint with them. Under state laws, you can file immediately, but you would be waiving your federal claims. There are times that we do that based on the type of claim that’s being raised, so you can file at any time, but generally within one year of the last act of discrimination or harassment, whichever the case may be.