Deadlines to File a Sexual Harassment Claim in Michigan

A Michigan sexual harassment claim can face three different filing deadlines, depending on where it is filed: 180 days for a complaint to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 300 days for a charge with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and three years for a lawsuit in state court.^[1][2][3] The agency deadlines are much shorter than the court deadline, and a state court suit does not depend on going to the state agency first.^[3]

This page sets out each deadline with its source, explains why they differ, and lists the neighboring deadlines that people confuse with them. What counts as harassment and when an employer is liable are covered in workplace sexual harassment law in Michigan.

The deadlines side by side

Where the claim is filed	Deadline	Counted from	Notes
Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR)	180 days[1]	The alleged act of discrimination[1]	An agency complaint; not a precondition to a state court suit[3]
EEOC charge (federal Title VII)	300 days in Michigan[2]	The alleged harm[2]	Applies to an employer with 15 or more employees[2]
Civil action under Title VII after the EEOC process	Within ninety days[4]	The giving of the EEOC's notice[4]	Follows the EEOC charge process[4]
Michigan state court suit under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act	Three years, as stated by the MDCR[3]	See the section on the state court deadline below	May be filed without first filing with the MDCR[3]

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights: 180 days

The Department's jurisdiction page states: "Complaints must be filed with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights within 180 days following the alleged act of discrimination."^[1]

An agency complaint is one of two routes under the Michigan act. After a hearing, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission's orders may include hiring, reinstatement, or upgrading of employees with or without back pay, and payment to the complainant of damages for an injury or loss caused by a violation, including a reasonable attorney's fee.^[6] The other route is a civil action in circuit court for injunctive relief or damages, or both.^[7]

The EEOC: 300 days in Michigan

The EEOC's Detroit Field Office states that an individual has 300 days from the alleged harm to file a charge against an employer with 15 or more employees for alleged discrimination based on sex, among other grounds, in Michigan and Ohio.^[2]

The reason for the longer period is on the EEOC's general page on time limits: a charge generally must be filed within 180 calendar days from the day the discrimination took place, and that deadline "is extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis."^[8]

The federal route depends on employer size. Title VII defines an employer as a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.^[9]

After the EEOC: ninety days to sue

The Title VII statute provides that "within ninety days after the giving of such notice a civil action may be brought against the respondent named in the charge" by the person claiming to be aggrieved.^[4] This is a second federal deadline that runs after the charge process, separate from the 300 days for filing the charge itself.^[2][4]

State court: three years, and no agency filing first

The Department of Civil Rights describes the court deadline this way: "Complaints more than 180 days that do not also fall under federal jurisdiction may be filed in State Court within three years. Complaints may be filed in State Court without first filing with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights."^[3]

Michigan's general limitations statute sets a period of 3 years "after the time of the death or injury" for actions to recover damages for injury to a person or property, unless the section provides otherwise.^[10] The suit itself is brought in circuit court, in the county where the alleged violation occurred or where the person against whom the complaint is filed resides or has a principal place of business.^[11]

How a deadline is counted when the conduct was a series of acts over time is decided by case law that this guide's sources do not cover. The figures on this page are the periods themselves, as stated by the statutes and agencies cited.^[1][3]

Which deadline applies to my situation?

Several features of the two laws determine which clocks are relevant:

• Employer size. The Michigan act applies to an employer with 1 or more employees.^[12] Title VII applies at fifteen or more.^[9]
• Family employment. The Michigan act's employment section does not apply to the employment of an individual by the individual's parent, spouse, or child.^[13]
• Retaliation. Retaliation for making a charge, filing a complaint, testifying, or participating in an investigation is a separate violation of the Michigan act.^[14]
• Setting. Michigan's definition of sexual harassment also covers public accommodations, public services, education, and housing.^[15]

Other deadlines that sit next to these

Conduct described as harassment sometimes also supports a different legal claim with its own period. The sources for this guide verify the following:

Type of claim or filing	Period
Action to recover damages sustained because of criminal sexual conduct	10 years[5]
The same action where the person was a minor at the time	Until the later of age 28, or three years after discovering the injury and its causal relationship to the criminal sexual conduct[16]
Action charging assault, battery, or false imprisonment	2 years, subject to the longer period for criminal sexual conduct[17]
Action charging libel or slander	1 year[18]
Claim against the State of Michigan for personal injuries	Claim or notice filed with the clerk of the Court of Claims within 6 months after the event[19]
Written allegation against a licensed health professional	If submitted more than 4 years after the incident, the department may investigate but is not required to[20]

For the purpose of the 10-year period, "criminal sexual conduct" means conduct prohibited under MCL 750.520b, 750.520c, 750.520d, 750.520e or 750.520g.^[21] Those civil deadlines are explained in civil lawsuits for sexual assault. The deadlines for bringing criminal charges are separate again and are covered in the statute of limitations for sex crimes. Complaints about licensed professionals are covered in licensing-board investigations.

Arbitration clauses and the deadlines

Some employment agreements send disputes to arbitration instead of court. Under a federal statute, at the election of the person alleging a sexual harassment dispute or sexual assault dispute, a predispute arbitration agreement is not valid or enforceable with respect to a case filed under federal, tribal, or state law that relates to that dispute.^[22] That law applies to any dispute or claim that arises or accrues on or after March 3, 2022.^[23] See NDAs and forced arbitration.

What people get wrong

"You have to go to the EEOC or the MDCR before you can sue in Michigan." The Department of Civil Rights itself states that complaints may be filed in state court without first filing with the Department.^[3] The 180-day and 300-day figures are agency deadlines.^[1][2]

"The deadline is 180 days, period." That is the Department of Civil Rights deadline and the general EEOC deadline; the EEOC deadline is extended to 300 days where a state agency enforces a parallel law, and the Department describes a three-year period for state court.^[1][8][3]

"The right-to-sue letter gives me three more years." The federal statute provides for a civil action within ninety days after the notice is given.^[4]

"A sexual assault at work has the same deadline as other harassment." A claim for damages sustained because of criminal sexual conduct has its own 10-year period, and it does not require that a criminal prosecution was brought or that one resulted in a conviction.^[5]

Practical steps that do not depend on any deadline include writing down the date of each incident, keeping copies of written complaints and responses, and noting the date any agency notice arrives. People weighing where to report conduct that may also be a crime can read options for reporting sexual assault, and people on the receiving end of a workplace complaint can read accused of sexual harassment at work.