File an EEOC charge and preserve your right to sue
The conduct mapped to a protected category and a cognizable claim, evidence and a timeline preserved before you lose access to your accounts, the charge filed with the EEOC or the state agency inside the filing deadline, mediation handled deliberately, and the right-to-sue letter obtained.
Free preview: 4 of 24 steps
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Who it's for
Employees and job applicants in private workplaces who face discrimination, harassment, or retaliation and do not yet have a lawyer while the filing deadline runs. It also fits people whose real goal is a preserved record that makes a plaintiff-side employment lawyer willing to take the case on contingency. It does not fit federal employees or applicants — they must use the federal-sector EEO counselor process — nor workers whose claims must run through a union grievance procedure.
About this playbook
You have a claim of workplace discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, and the filing clock is already running. This guide walks you through the EEOC charge process end to end: mapping your conduct to a protected category, computing the 180- or 300-day deadline before it passes, and copying the evidence you will lose the day your work access is cut off. It explains the dual-filing rule that makes a single charge filed with a state agency count as an EEOC charge too, what the charge form should and should not say, and how to handle mediation and the employer’s position statement without giving ground. It ends with the right-to-sue letter and the 90-day window it opens. It is self-help, not legal advice, and it does not cover the federal-sector EEO process, union grievance procedures, or state-law claims that run outside the EEOC system.
What you'll do, step by stepFree preview
Only a sample is open: 4 of 24 steps can be read in full. The rest unlock when you buy.
Phase 1: Map the claim and the filing clock
4 stepsPhase 2: Preserve the evidence while access lasts
4 stepsPhase 3: Draft the charge
3 stepsPhase 4: File the charge and hold the line
5 stepsPhase 5: Handle mediation and the investigation
5 stepsPhase 6: Turn the right-to-sue letter into a decision
3 steps
Details
What you need first
You can name the events, dates, and the people involved, and the last act falls within the 180- or 300-day window. You still have, or can still reach, the work email and records described in Phase 2. The employer meets the coverage threshold (typically 15 or more employees, 20 or more for age claims). Federal employees and workers under a binding union grievance procedure should not start here.
