The EEOC Intake Questionnaire and the 300-Day Question
Client Ms. Ortega was fired from a warehouse job on January 10, 2025. She believes the termination was based on sex. She called your firm on September 30, 2025. On October 1, 2025, she submitted an EEOC online intake questionnaire describing the employer, her termination date, and the alleged sex discrimination. She did not sign or verify it, and the EEOC has not docketed a charge. Your state has a worksharing agreement with the EEOC and a local civil rights agency that enforces the same law; the state agency has waived initial processing. The client wants to file a federal Title VII lawsuit immediately. The supervising attorney asks you to determine whether her administrative deadline has passed and what to do next. The firm's calendar shows no prior entry for this matter.
1. Calculate the potential Title VII charge-filing deadlines and explain which one likely applies.
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Title VII ordinarily requires a charge within 180 days of the unlawful employment practice. In a deferral state with a worksharing agreement, the period is extended to 300 days if a timely charge is filed with the state or local agency. Counting from January 10, 2025, the 180th day is July 9, 2025, and the 300th day is November 6, 2025. The October 1 intake is 264 days after termination: too late for 180 days, but within 300. The key fact is whether the state agency has waived initial processing and whether the worksharing agreement applies. Because the firm's own description says the state has a worksharing agreement and the agency waived initial processing, the 300-day period likely applies. That conclusion is jurisdiction-specific and should be verified with the EEOC's local office and the state agency's charge-filing rules before relying on it.
2. Does the October 1 intake questionnaire count as a charge? What should the firm do?
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An intake questionnaire is not automatically a charge. Under 29 CFR 1601.12(b), a charge must be in writing, identify the parties and the alleged discrimination, and be verified; a questionnaire can sometimes be treated as a charge if it is sufficient and later verified, but the EEOC is not required to do so. The October 1 questionnaire was not signed or verified, and no charge number appears. The firm should immediately prepare and file a formal verified charge, before November 6, and ask the EEOC in writing to treat the October 1 questionnaire as the filing date. Preserve the submission confirmation, the questionnaire, and any portal receipts. Also request a right-to-sue letter only after the charge is filed; the client cannot file the federal lawsuit before exhausting administrative remedies. If the EEOC refuses to relate the charge back, evaluate equitable tolling, but do not promise the client it will succeed.
3. What internal calendaring and client-communication steps are required?
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Calendar three dates: the 180-day federal deadline of July 9, 2025, already passed; the 300-day deferral deadline of November 6, 2025; and the 90-day deadline from receipt of any right-to-sue letter. The 90-day period is calculated from the date the client receives the letter, not the date it is mailed, so record the receipt date. Send the client a written status letter explaining that the firm is filing the charge, that the deadline is November 6, and that she must not wait to provide information. Open a tickler for 10 days before November 6 and a second tickler for the right-to-sue. Document the intake date, the termination date, and the worksharing verification. Do not tell the client she can file suit immediately; she must exhaust. If the charge is filed, update the calendar with the charge number and the EEOC investigator's contact.