The laws allowing you to sue an employer for discrimination, harassment and retaliation all have deadlines. The deadlines are different for most types of claims. And they can differ based on the state you’re in.
Here’s a general guide. Keep in mind that these general rules might not apply to your specific situation. If you think you might want to pursue a claim, call us immediately. We can tell you exactly what claims you may have and the exact deadlines you’ll need to meet.
General Filing Deadlines:
- Discrimination and Harassment (race, gender, sexual harassment, age, pregnancy, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation) : Can vary from as little as 180 days up to four years.
- Family & Medical Leave Act claims: Can vary from two to three years from the date of the wrongful act of your employer.
- Wage and Hour Claims: Can vary from to to three years.
- Retaliation; Bad References; Fraud; First Amendment Violations; Military-Leave: Up to four years.
Don’t Miss Your Deadline. And Don’t Rely On Bad Advice.
We get many calls from employees who’ve been given bad advice from friends, family – even their own human resource department. Even worse, some have talked to lawyers with little or no experience in employee rights. By example, some personal injury lawyers whose firms are failing will suddenly advertise for other kinds of work, including discrimination law. That’s dangerous. Their flawed advice can ruin your ability to pursue what would have been very valuable claims.
The Internet is also a bad place to go looking for advice about deadlines. One website says you have up to six years to file your discrimination claim. That’s wrong. Others say your deadlines don’t start running while your human-resource department looks into things. That’s wrong, too.
Our practice is limited to employee rights. We represent employees only. There are hundreds of laws governing the workplace. Your rights are too important to be lost talking to those who pretend to know. Call us 24/7 at (800) 663-7999, or email us at Jim@JimGarrityLaw.com.
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