EEOC Temporarily Suspending Issuance of Key Notices

April 10, 2020

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has confirmed that it has temporarily suspended its issuance of key notices that start the clock for workers to sue their employers for discrimination. The commission suspended the issuance of “right-to-sue letters” on March 21 according to an EEOC spokesperson.

When the EEOC concludes an investigation involving discrimination, harassment or retaliation, one of the notices that it may send to complaining parties will start the clock for when they can file a lawsuit. Known as a "right-to-sue" notice, this notice is issued if the EEOC is unable to resolve the charge during its investigation and does not sue the employer on its own or if the EEOC is unable to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination occurred. Once the employee receives the notice, he/she has 90 days to file suit.

This temporary suspension of the issuance of the "right-to-sue" notices does not impact an employee's ability to specifically request that the EEOC to issue a notice. By temporarily suspending the issuance of these notices unless an employee requests it, the EEOC has essentially extended the time that an employee has to file a lawsuit.

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