In the wake of #MeToo and #TimesUp, a number of states have expanded the time limits for targets of harassment to bring legal charges. Here’s what’s happening:
California: Until December 31, 2019, employees had one year to file a harassment, discrimination, or retaliation complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”). The employee can either ask DFEH to immediately issue a Right to Sue Notice, or ask to have the DFEH investigate and try to resolve the claim. If the case is not resolved by DFEH, the worker will then get a Right to Sue Notice. Either way, the employee has one year to file a lawsuit in court after getting the Right to Sue Notice.
But, as of January 1, 2020, the one-year deadline to file a DFEH complaint has been increased to three years. However, the new law does not revive claims that had expired before January 1. And, the one-year period for going to court after the DFEH remains the same.
New Jersey: A new law in the Garden State gives adult victims of sexual assault, including assaults committed as part of workplace harassment, seven years to sue from the time they discovered the abuse. Unlike the California law, the New Jersey statute does revive expired claims—Victims whose claims had lapsed because the statute of limitations had expired now have a new two-year window to bring suit.
New York: Like California, New York has extended the statute of limitations for filing administrative complaints from one year to three years, but only for sexual harassment. It also requires that all confidentiality agreements allow employees to file harassment or discrimination complaints with state and local authorities and participate in government investigations.
What this means to you: Extending the statute of limitations means more time for records to get lost or destroyed, for details to be forgotten, and for witnesses to leave the employer. Since organizations may now find themselves defending against a case where the events happened many years ago, they should stop any regularly-scheduled document destruction until they review their document retention policies and revise them as needed.
Fair Measures focuses on creating respectful workplaces for businesses by training executives, managers, and employees about how to create a genuine and shared organizational culture based on values, policies, and laws. Call us today at 800-458-2778 or email us at training@fairmeasures.com to find out more about our in-person and online anti-harassment courses or to book a workshop.
Posted 01-15-2020
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.