File an EEOC charge and preserve your right to sue

  1. Map the conduct to a protected category
    30 min

    This step produces a written one-line theory for every event you can name: who did what, when, and which protected trait it implicates. It becomes the skeleton of the charge narrative and the first page a lawyer reads. What makes it hard: retaliation is a claim of its own, so one episode can carry two theories — and events with no protected trait do not belong in the charge at all.

    1. List every event you remember with the date, the actor, and what happened — rough notes are fine now; the incident log comes in a later phase.
    2. For each event, write one line: “On [date], [name] did [act], and I believe it was because of [trait].”
    3. Match the trait to the law: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), or national origin → Title VII; disability → ADA; age 40 or older → ADEA; genetic information → GINA.
    4. Add a separate retaliation line for any adverse act that followed a complaint, an accommodation request, or participation in a proceeding — it stands even if the underlying conduct was not discrimination.
    5. Mark events with no protected trait as “not chargeable” and set them aside.