How to File a Discrimination Complaint Against a Business

To file a discrimination complaint against a business, send it to the federal agency that has authority over the type of discrimination you experienced: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for employment, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for housing, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for restaurants, stores, hotels, and other businesses open to the public. Each agency has its own deadline, its own forms, and its own investigation track. Filing is free at every one of them, and missing the deadline can end your claim for good.

Match Your Situation to the Right Agency

Sending your complaint to the wrong agency wastes time you may not have.

Employment: EEOC

If a business discriminated against you in hiring, firing, pay, promotions, or any other condition of employment, the EEOC is the primary federal agency. It enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (race, color, religion, sex including sexual orientation and transgender status, and national origin), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) for workers 40 and older, and the Equal Pay Act.¹

Not every employer is covered. Title VII and the ADA apply to employers with 15 or more employees; the ADEA applies at 20 or more.² The Equal Pay Act covers virtually all employers with at least one employee. If the business is too small for federal coverage, your state civil rights agency may still help, because many states set lower thresholds.

Housing: HUD

If you were denied housing, charged different terms, harassed by a landlord, or otherwise treated unequally in a housing transaction, file with HUD. HUD enforces the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.³

Public Accommodations: DOJ

If a business that serves the public discriminated against you because of a disability, the DOJ handles complaints under Title III of the ADA. That covers restaurants, hotels, doctors’ offices, retail stores, theaters, banks, gyms, and many others.⁴

Separately, Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin at hotels, restaurants, gas stations, theaters, and other places of entertainment that serve the public.⁵ Those complaints also go to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Private clubs and establishments not open to the public are exempt.

Federal Contractors: OFCCP

If the business does work for the federal government, you can file with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) at the Department of Labor. OFCCP specifically handles disability discrimination and discrimination against protected veterans by federal contractors and subcontractors. You don’t have to know for certain that the employer is a federal contractor to file.⁶

State and Local Agencies

Most states run their own civil rights or human rights agencies, and many cities and counties do too. State laws often cover additional protected categories and smaller employers than federal law. Filing with a state or local agency generally does not block a federal claim. The EEOC has worksharing agreements with state and local Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) that allow dual filing: when you file with a FEPA, the agency automatically sends a copy to the EEOC, and vice versa.⁷ The agency that receives the charge first usually handles the investigation.

Know Your Deadline

Deadlines in discrimination cases are strict. Agencies will reject a late complaint, so pin down your window before anything else.

EEOC (employment): generally 180 calendar days from the day the discrimination happened, extended to 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a similar law, which is true in the majority of states.⁸
HUD (housing): within one year of the last date of alleged discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.⁹
OFCCP (federal contractors): within 300 days of the discriminatory action.⁶
DOJ (public accommodations): the DOJ does not publish a hard filing deadline for ADA Title III complaints, but filing promptly strengthens your case and preserves evidence.

If your deadline is close, don’t wait until you have a perfect case. Getting a complaint on file with basic information beats letting the clock run out. The EEOC offers expedited instructions if you have 60 days or fewer remaining.¹⁰

Gather Evidence Before You File

Strong documentation is what moves complaints forward. Start collecting as soon as you suspect discrimination.

Save every communication that relates to the treatment: emails, text messages, letters, written warnings, performance reviews, and internal memos. If the business has written policies, employee handbooks, or training materials that contradict how you were treated, get copies. In employment cases, keep records of hiring or promotion decisions that show patterns, because statistical trends can be powerful evidence of systemic bias.

Witness accounts add credibility. If coworkers, neighbors, or other customers saw what happened, ask them to write down what they observed, with dates and times. A personal log where you record incidents as they happen helps establish a timeline.

Once a business has reason to expect a discrimination claim, it has a legal obligation to stop destroying potentially relevant documents, even under routine document-retention policies. A written notice asking the business to preserve evidence creates a record. Courts can impose serious consequences on a business that destroys evidence after being put on notice, including allowing a jury to assume the missing evidence would have been unfavorable.

How to Submit at Each Agency

Every federal agency accepts complaints without charge.

EEOC

The EEOC calls its filing a “charge of discrimination,” not a complaint. A charge is a signed statement asserting that an employer engaged in employment discrimination and asking the EEOC to investigate.¹⁰ You first submit an online inquiry through the EEOC Public Portal, then schedule an intake interview with an EEOC staff member. After the interview, your formal charge is prepared and filed. You can also walk into the nearest EEOC field office.

Be specific: what happened, who was involved, when it occurred, and what protected characteristic you believe motivated the treatment. The agency will assign a charge number and confirm receipt. Keep copies of everything.

HUD

You can file a housing discrimination complaint with HUD online, by mail, or by phone. HUD will notify the business and give both parties the chance to participate in conciliation before an investigation moves forward.¹¹

DOJ

For disability discrimination at a place of public accommodation, file an ADA complaint online through the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division website or by mailing a completed ADA Complaint Form. The DOJ’s initial review can take up to three months. If you haven’t heard back after that, you can check status by calling the ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301.⁴

What Happens After You File

Filing starts an agency-driven process. Your level of involvement depends on the agency and the facts.

The Investigation

The agency notifies the business and begins investigating. That typically involves reviewing evidence from both sides, interviewing you and the business’s representatives, and sometimes interviewing witnesses or conducting site visits. The business is expected to respond to your allegations with its own evidence. EEOC investigations take 10 months or longer on average.¹²

Mediation or Conciliation

Before a full investigation, most agencies offer a voluntary settlement track. The EEOC contacts both parties shortly after a charge is filed to ask about mediation, in which a neutral mediator helps both sides reach a voluntary agreement. Mediation resolves charges in under three months on average, versus 10-plus months for a full investigation.¹² There is no cost to either party. If mediation fails, the charge returns to the investigation track. Any agreement reached is enforceable in court like any other contract.

HUD uses a similar process called conciliation, and any resulting agreement can include monetary relief, policy changes, fair housing training, and ongoing compliance monitoring.¹³ The DOJ may refer ADA complaints to its confidential, voluntary mediation program.⁴

Outcomes

After the EEOC finishes its investigation, one of three things happens. If the agency finds the law may have been violated, it first tries to reach a voluntary settlement. If settlement fails, the EEOC’s legal staff decides whether to file suit on your behalf. If the EEOC cannot establish a violation or decides not to sue, it issues you a Notice of Right to Sue, which lets you take the case to federal court yourself.¹⁴

If the Business Retaliates

Federal law prohibits punishing you for filing a charge, participating in an investigation, or otherwise asserting your rights. Retaliation covers the obvious (firing, demotion) and the subtler forms too: reassignment to less desirable duties, unjustified negative reviews, or a hostile work environment.¹⁵

Document anything that changes after you file: job duties, schedule, pay, or how management and coworkers treat you. Save written communications that suggest a retaliatory motive. You can file a separate retaliation charge with the same agency handling your original complaint, under the same deadlines.

Getting to Court and What You Can Recover

For most employment discrimination claims, you cannot go directly to federal court. You have to file with the EEOC first and either let the investigation run its course or ask permission to sue.

Under Title VII and the ADA, you need a Notice of Right to Sue from the EEOC before filing a federal lawsuit. You can request one after giving the EEOC 180 days to work on your charge, and sometimes the agency issues one sooner.¹⁶ Once you have that notice, you generally have 90 days to file suit.

Two federal laws work differently. Under the ADEA, you can file a federal lawsuit 60 days after filing your charge with the EEOC, no right-to-sue letter needed. Under the Equal Pay Act, you can go to court within two years of the last discriminatory paycheck, also without a notice.¹⁶

For ADA public-accommodations cases filed with the DOJ, private lawsuits are limited to injunctive relief. A court can order the business to stop the discriminatory practice, but federal law does not allow money damages in these cases. Some states allow damages under their own public-accommodations statutes, which is a reason to consult a local attorney.

Employment Remedies and Damage Caps

If employment discrimination is proven, remedies can include job placement or reinstatement, back pay and lost benefits, and compensatory damages for out-of-pocket costs and emotional harm such as mental anguish or loss of enjoyment of life.¹⁷ Punitive damages may be available in cases of intentional discrimination.

Federal law caps combined compensatory and punitive damages by employer size:¹⁸

15 to 100 employees: $50,000
101 to 200 employees: $100,000
201 to 500 employees: $200,000
More than 500 employees: $300,000

These caps apply to Title VII and ADA claims. They do not apply to back pay, which has no federal cap, or to claims brought under other statutes like Section 1981 (race discrimination), where damages are uncapped.

Housing Remedies

Housing cases resolved through HUD can produce monetary compensation for financial losses (moving costs, higher rent), emotional distress damages, and equitable relief such as ordering the landlord to rent you a unit or grant a reasonable accommodation. Conciliation agreements often include fair housing training and policy reforms.¹³

Attorney Fees

Most federal discrimination statutes shift fees to the losing side, meaning a losing employer can be ordered to pay the winning employee’s attorney fees. Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, and the Equal Pay Act all allow this. In settlements, attorney fees can be negotiated as part of the package. Employees only owe the employer’s legal fees if the case was frivolous or filed in bad faith.

Taxes on Your Award

Most discrimination awards and settlements are taxable. Federal tax law only excludes damages received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness.¹⁹ Emotional distress alone does not count as a physical injury, even when it causes physical symptoms like insomnia or headaches. Damages for employment discrimination, harassment, or wrongful termination are generally taxable as ordinary income unless the underlying conduct caused an actual physical injury. Talk to a tax professional before spending a significant settlement.

When an Attorney Helps

You do not need an attorney to file a discrimination complaint with any federal agency, and many people file successfully on their own. An attorney who handles discrimination cases regularly can still spot issues you might miss, frame your complaint more effectively, and represent you in mediation or in court.

Most discrimination attorneys work on contingency, typically 25% to 40% of your recovery, with no fee if you don’t win. Fee-shifting rules also make these cases more attractive to attorneys, because a win means the employer pays reasonable attorney fees on top of your recovery. Straightforward cases can often go through the agency without a lawyer; representation tends to pay off most during settlement negotiations, when the legal stakes and procedural details become more complex.

1
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
2
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Small Business Requirements
3
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 100 – Discriminatory Conduct Under the Fair Housing Act
4
ADA.gov. File a Complaint
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 2000a – Prohibition Against Discrimination or Segregation in Places of Public Accommodation
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Complaint of Employment Discrimination Involving a Federal Contractor or Subcontractor
7
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Dual Filing
8
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits For Filing A Charge
9
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Learn About FHEO’s Process to Report and Investigate Housing Discrimination
10
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing A Charge of Discrimination
11
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act
12
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mediation
13
HUD Exchange. Respondent Obligations in Fair Housing Investigations
14
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Can Expect After You File a Charge
15
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retaliation
16
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After You Have Filed a Charge
17
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Remedies For Employment Discrimination
18
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1981a – Damages in Cases of Intentional Discrimination in Employment
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness