To sue your employer, you generally start by identifying which law covers what happened, file an administrative charge with the right agency within a short window, wait for permission to sue, and then file in court within 90 days of getting that permission. The exact path depends on the violation — discrimination, unpaid wages, retaliation, wrongful termination — and on whether you ever signed an arbitration agreement that routes the dispute out of court entirely. Figuring out how to sue your employer starts with those two questions, in that order.
Check for an Arbitration Agreement First
Before anything else, pull out your onboarding paperwork. Millions of American workers signed a mandatory arbitration agreement without noticing, and if yours is enforceable, you cannot file a traditional lawsuit at all. In Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the Supreme Court ruled that employers can require workers to resolve disputes through individual arbitration and can include waivers that prevent employees from banding together in class actions.1Supreme Court of the United States. Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 584 U.S. 497 The Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to enforce these the same way they enforce any other contract.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 9 U.S. Code 2 – Validity, Irrevocability, and Enforcement of Agreements to Arbitrate
There is one major exception. The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, signed into law in 2022, lets workers alleging sexual harassment or sexual assault void a pre-dispute arbitration agreement and go to court instead.3U.S. Congress. H.R.4445 – Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 The choice belongs to the employee. For every other type of workplace dispute, a valid arbitration clause generally shuts the courthouse door.
Arbitration agreements can sometimes be challenged as unconscionable — for example, if the terms were buried in hiring paperwork with no chance to negotiate, or if the agreement imposes costs that effectively block the worker from any forum. These challenges are fact-specific and succeed less often than most workers hope. Raise the issue with an attorney before assuming you can file in court.
Identify Which Law Covers Your Situation
Discrimination
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal for employers to base hiring, firing, promotions, or other job decisions on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It applies to employers with 15 or more employees.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Typical claims involve being passed over for a promotion, terminated, or subjected to a hostile work environment because of a protected characteristic.
The Americans with Disabilities Act covers the same 15-employee threshold and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified workers with physical or mental disabilities. The key obligation is an interactive conversation between employer and employee about what accommodation would work. Skipping that conversation or dragging it out can create liability on its own.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects workers 40 and older and applies to employers with 20 or more employees.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 631 – Age Limits Age claims frequently arise during layoffs where older, higher-paid workers are disproportionately cut while younger employees keep their jobs.
Unpaid Wages and Overtime
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay at least the federal minimum wage and overtime at one and a half times the regular rate for hours past 40 in a workweek.6U.S. Department of Labor. Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act The most common violation is misclassifying workers as exempt from overtime when their actual duties do not qualify. Shaving time off the clock, demanding off-the-clock work, and miscalculating the regular rate for tipped or commission employees are also frequent.
When an employer loses an FLSA case, the worker recovers unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, effectively doubling the recovery, and the court awards reasonable attorney fees and costs on top.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 216 – Penalties
Retaliation
Retaliation is now one of the most frequently filed categories at the EEOC. The Supreme Court held in Burlington Northern v. White that retaliation includes any employer action that would discourage a reasonable worker from filing or supporting a discrimination complaint.8Justia U.S. Supreme Court. Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53 That reaches firings and demotions, but also subtler moves: cutting hours, reassigning someone to an undesirable shift, issuing an unjustified negative review, or suspending someone briefly without pay.
A retaliation claim can succeed even if the underlying discrimination complaint turns out to be wrong. The law protects complaints made in good faith, not just correct ones.
Wrongful Termination
Most employment in the United States is at-will, meaning either side can end the relationship for any reason or no reason. The exceptions are firm but narrow: an employer cannot fire you for refusing to break the law, for exercising a legal right like filing a workers’ compensation claim, or in violation of a written contract that limits the reasons for termination.
Meet the Filing Deadlines
Most federal discrimination claims cannot go directly to court. You must first file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The deadline is 180 calendar days from the date of the discriminatory act, extended to 300 days if your state or local government has its own anti-discrimination enforcement agency (most states do).9U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits For Filing A Charge Miss this window and the claim is gone. This is where many otherwise strong cases die.
The charge is a written statement identifying the employer, describing what happened, and specifying the basis for the claim. Once filed, the EEOC investigates and may offer mediation.
If the EEOC finishes its investigation, dismisses the charge, or if 180 days pass without resolution, the agency issues a Notice of Right to Sue.10U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit You can also request this notice earlier if you want to move faster.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After You Have Filed a Charge – Section: Requesting a Notice of Right to Sue
Once you receive the right-to-sue letter, you have exactly 90 days to file your lawsuit in federal or state court.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 2000e-5 – Enforcement Provisions Courts routinely dismiss cases filed on day 91. Treat the letter as a countdown clock the moment you open the envelope.
Equal Pay Act claims are the exception: workers can file those directly in court without an EEOC charge first.9U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits For Filing A Charge FLSA wage claims also do not require an EEOC charge.
Build Your Evidence Before You File
Employment cases almost always come down to what you can prove on paper. Start collecting while you still have access to workplace systems, because that access disappears fast after a termination.
Personnel files, performance reviews, and disciplinary records show how the employer characterized your work over time. A pattern of positive reviews followed by sudden negative write-ups after you complained is powerful evidence of retaliation. Pay stubs and tax records are essential for calculating lost wages and unpaid overtime. Employment contracts and offer letters pin down specific promises about compensation, duties, or termination procedures.
Emails, text messages, and internal chat logs often contain the most damaging material. A supervisor’s offhand comment in a Slack message can do more to prove discriminatory intent than months of circumstantial evidence. Save copies to personal devices or accounts where legally permitted. Handwritten notes taken during or immediately after key meetings create a contemporaneous record that carries weight even though it comes from you.
Identify witnesses early. Keep a list of coworkers, clients, or vendors who directly saw or heard the conduct at issue, and record their contact information outside of company directories because people change jobs. Note what each person observed so their testimony later connects to specific events.
Know What You Can Recover
Federal law caps the combined compensatory and punitive damages a worker can recover under Title VII and the ADA, scaled to employer size:13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 1981a – Damages in Cases of Intentional Discrimination in Employment
- 15 to 100 employees: $50,000
- 101 to 200 employees: $100,000
- 201 to 500 employees: $200,000
- More than 500 employees: $300,000
Those caps cover emotional distress, pain and suffering, and punitive damages combined. They do not cap back pay or front pay, which are calculated separately based on actual lost earnings. FLSA wage claims have no comparable cap — the recovery tracks unpaid wages, doubled through liquidated damages. ADEA claims follow their own structure and do not allow punitive damages at all.
Taxation turns on what the money is compensating you for, not what the settlement agreement calls it.14Internal Revenue Service. Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments Back pay and front pay are treated as wages, with income tax withholding and employment taxes. Emotional distress damages without physical injury are taxable as ordinary income but not subject to employment taxes. Punitive damages are always taxable. Attorney fees paid in connection with an employment discrimination or whistleblower case are deductible as an above-the-line adjustment, which prevents being taxed on money your lawyer takes.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 62 – Adjusted Gross Income Defined
Keep Looking for Work While the Case Is Pending
Even if your former employer clearly broke the law, you are still required to look for comparable work during the lawsuit. Courts call this the duty to mitigate damages, and employers use it aggressively at trial. If you sat at home for 18 months without applying anywhere, the employer will argue your back pay should be reduced by what you could have earned.
You do not have to accept a job that is substantially different from your former position or one that pays far less. You do need to show a genuine effort. Keep a detailed job search log: the date, company, position, and outcome of every application. If you turn down an offer, write down why. The burden of proof falls on the employer to show you failed to mitigate, but doing nothing hands them the argument.
File the Lawsuit
The lawsuit begins when you file a summons and complaint with the court clerk. The complaint lays out the factual allegations and legal claims. Filing in federal court costs $350.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1914 – District Court Filing and Miscellaneous Fees
You then have to formally deliver the lawsuit papers to the employer through a process called service. For a business, that means delivering copies to the company’s registered agent, an officer, or a managing agent, handled by a process server or U.S. Marshal rather than by you.17Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons Proof of service goes back to the court.
Once served, the employer has 21 days to file a formal response addressing each allegation and raising defenses.18Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12 – Defenses and Objections From there the case moves into discovery, where both sides exchange documents, send written questions under oath, and take depositions. Employment cases are often won or lost here, because internal emails, HR investigation files, and manager notes frequently reveal that the stated reason for a firing was pretext for something else.
After discovery closes, the employer almost always files a motion for summary judgment asking the court to dismiss before trial. To survive, you need enough evidence to create a factual question only a jury can decide. If you can point to specific evidence suggesting the employer’s stated reason was pretextual, the case moves to trial.
What It Costs You
Most employment plaintiffs do not pay their attorney by the hour. The standard arrangement is a contingency fee, where the lawyer takes a percentage of the recovery — typically 33 to 40 percent — and collects nothing if the case loses. Out-of-pocket costs for depositions, court reporters, expert witnesses, and filing fees are usually advanced by the firm and deducted from any recovery.
Fee-shifting provisions change the math. Under the FLSA, a winning plaintiff’s attorney fees are paid by the employer, not out of the plaintiff’s recovery.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 216 – Penalties Title VII has a similar provision. Ask at your first consultation how the contingency interacts with any statutory fee award, because the structure determines what you actually take home.