Business, Insurance and Work
Filing an EEOC Discrimination Charge in Mississippi
Why a Mississippi worker has 180 days, not 300, to file an EEOC charge, which office takes it, what the employer is told and when the 90-day clock starts.
A worker in Mississippi who believes an employer discriminated has, in most cases, 180 calendar days from the act to file a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mississippi has no state or local fair employment agency that would stretch that period to 300 days, as happens in many other states. The charge is a condition of most federal discrimination lawsuits, and the process it opens produces two notices that matter: one sent to the employer, and one sent to the worker that starts the clock for going to court.
Why is the Mississippi deadline 180 days and not 300?
The basic federal filing period is 180 calendar days from the day the discrimination took place. The EEOC extends it to 300 days where a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis. Those agencies are called Fair Employment Practices Agencies, and where the EEOC has a worksharing agreement with one of them, a charge filed with either is automatically filed with the other.
The EEOC Jackson Area Office states the result for Mississippi plainly: 180 days to file a charge against an employer with 15 or more employees for discrimination based on race, colour, national origin, sex, religion or disability, and 180 days for an age charge against an employer with 20 or more employees. The office lists no state or local agency for its area. The Memphis District Office, which covers part of northern Mississippi, applies the same 180 days to Mississippi charges while giving 300 days to charges arising in Tennessee. A 300-day figure read online should be checked against the state it was written for.
Which employers and workers does the charge cover?
The federal protections come mainly from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and each requires a charge before a private lawsuit. A private employer is covered for race, colour, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and transgender status), national origin, disability and genetic information if it had 15 or more employees for at least twenty calendar weeks in the current or the preceding year. For age discrimination, which protects workers aged 40 or older, the threshold is 20 employees. The Equal Pay Act reaches virtually all employers.
The protection belongs to employees, job applicants and former employees. Independent contractors are not covered, and the EEOC itself calls the line between a contractor and an employee complicated, so a worker who is unsure should raise the question at intake, and early.
Which EEOC office takes a Mississippi charge?
Two field offices divide the state by county, and what counts is the county where the alleged discrimination took place. The Memphis District Office takes charges arising in 17 northern counties: Alcorn, Benton, Coahoma, DeSoto, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Marshall, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica and Union. The Jackson Area Office takes the other 65.
| Office | Mississippi area | Address | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Area Office | 65 counties, including Hinds, Harrison and Jackson | Dr. A. H. McCoy Federal Building, 100 West Capitol Street, Suite 338, Jackson, MS 39269 | 180 days |
| Memphis District Office | 17 northern counties, including DeSoto, Lee and Lafayette | 200 Jefferson Avenue, 14th Floor, Memphis, TN 38103 | 180 days |
How is a charge filed in practice?
The EEOC describes a charge as a signed statement asserting that an organisation engaged in employment discrimination. The usual path starts with an online inquiry through the EEOC Public Portal, followed by an intake interview by telephone, by video or in person. The inquiry is not the charge: the charge exists once the worker has signed it. The agency does not take charges over the phone, but a call to 1-800-669-4000 can start the process, and it is the route the EEOC suggests when a deadline is close.
The Jackson office is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; walk-ins are seen in order of arrival, imminent deadlines first. A charge can also be started by letter. The EEOC's filing instructions list what it must contain: the worker's and the employer's names and contact details, the number of employees if known, what happened and when, why the worker believes it was discriminatory, and a signature. An unsigned letter cannot be investigated.
What notice does the employer receive?
Within ten days of the filing date, the EEOC sends the employer a notice of the charge. Some charges are offered to the agency's mediation programme, where a mediator helps both sides look for a voluntary settlement without deciding who is right. Otherwise the EEOC usually asks the employer for a written answer, called a position statement, which the worker can read through the portal and is asked to answer within 30 days.
The investigation may involve interviews, document requests and a visit to the workplace, and an employer that refuses to cooperate can face an administrative subpoena. The EEOC says an investigation takes about ten months on average, while mediation usually settles a matter in less than three.
How do you count the 180 days?
The days are calendar days. Weekends and holidays count, although a deadline that lands on one moves to the next business day. Each discrete act carries its own clock: in the EEOC's own example, a worker demoted and then dismissed a year later, who files the day after the dismissal, can only challenge the dismissal. Harassment is the exception, because a charge filed within 180 days of the last incident lets the agency look at the earlier ones too.
Other procedures do not stop the clock. The EEOC states that the period generally is not extended while a worker pursues an internal grievance, a union grievance, arbitration or mediation. When the count is uncertain, the field office can assess whether time remains.
When does the Notice of Right to Sue arrive?
The Notice of Right to Sue is addressed to the worker. The EEOC issues it when it closes its investigation, including when it cannot determine whether the law was violated. A worker who wants to go to court sooner can ask for it: once 180 days have passed since filing, the agency is required by law to issue it on request; before then, only if it cannot finish the investigation within 180 days.
According to the EEOC's guidance on filing a lawsuit, the suit must then be filed within 90 days of receiving the notice, in federal or state court. In Mississippi a federal case goes to the United States District Court for the Northern or the Southern District, and the opening steps of a state case are set out in the guide to how a civil complaint is filed and served in Mississippi. Two statutes work differently. An age plaintiff needs a charge but no notice, and may sue 60 days after filing the charge, no later than 90 days after being told the investigation is over. An Equal Pay Act plaintiff needs neither and goes straight to court within two years of the last discriminatory paycheck, or three if the discrimination was wilful.
The deadlines side by side
| Step | Time limit | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| File the charge | 180 calendar days from the act | Employers with 15 or more employees, or 20 for age |
| Employer notified | Within 10 days of filing | Every charge |
| Right to sue on request | Once 180 days have passed since filing | Title VII and disability charges |
| File the lawsuit | 90 days from receiving the notice | Claims that need a Notice of Right to Sue |
| Age lawsuit | From 60 days after the charge | Age Discrimination in Employment Act |
| Equal Pay Act lawsuit | 2 years, or 3 if wilful | Pay claims; no charge needed |
Where do state-law claims fit?
An EEOC charge protects federal rights only. Mississippi's own employment law rests on the at-will rule, subject to written contracts and to two narrow public policy exceptions; those claims do not pass through the EEOC and run on their own limitation periods. They are explained in the guide to at-will employment and its exceptions in Mississippi. Once either kind of claim reaches court, evidence is gathered under the rules described in the discovery stage of a Mississippi civil case, where personnel files, messages and the sequence of events carry most of the weight.
The charge in brief
- What it is: a signed statement to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asserting that an employer, union or employment agency discriminated.
- Where it goes: the Jackson Area Office for 65 Mississippi counties, the Memphis District Office for 17 northern counties.
- Deadline: 180 calendar days from the act, for every Mississippi charge.
- After filing: notice to the employer within 10 days, a Notice of Right to Sue at closure or on request after 180 days, then 90 days to sue.
Questions readers ask
Can a Mississippi worker rely on the 300-day deadline?
Not for a charge arising in Mississippi. The EEOC's Jackson and Memphis offices both give 180 days for Mississippi charges, because no state or local agency in Mississippi is listed as enforcing a law that would extend the period. The 300-day figure applies in states that have such an agency, Tennessee among them.
Does an internal complaint or a union grievance pause the deadline?
Generally not. The EEOC states that the filing period is not extended while a worker uses an internal grievance procedure, a union grievance, arbitration or mediation. Those procedures can continue alongside a charge, so the charge should still be filed within the 180 days.
What happens if the 90 days after the Notice of Right to Sue are missed?
The EEOC warns that a worker who does not file within 90 days of receiving the notice may be prevented from going forward with the lawsuit. The deadline is set by law, which is why the date the notice arrived is worth recording the day it comes.