Kentucky has one Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) field office, which is located in Louisville. If the incident in question took place within the state of Kentucky then you should file your claim at the EEOC office in Louisville.
Please be advised that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, field offices are closed to in-person intake interviews. For your convenience, you can access more information, download forms and schedule a phone appointment through the EEOC Public Portal website or contact your local EEOC office.
The EEOC is responsible for protecting employees’ rights. If you have experienced discrimination in a legally protected category such as race, sex, age or religion, then you can file an EEOC claim in Kentucky.
If you have been the victim of discrimination, it’s important to act quickly. You have 300 days from the date of the incident to file a claim with the EEOC.
Each state has different guidelines about filing discrimination claims, and so you should consider contacting an employment attorney to help guide you through the EEOC claim process in Kentucky.
EEOC Office Information in Kentucky
- 600 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Place, Suite 268
- Louisville, KY 40202
- Office Hours: M-Th 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
- Phone:1-800-669-4000
- Director: Alan Anderson
- Regional Attorney: Kenneth Bird
State Employment Laws
The Kentucky Civil Rights Act provides employees with additional protections for protected categories like race, skin color, religion, national origin, sex, and age (40 and over), in additional protections for people with qualifying disabilities, smokers and non-smokers, AIDS or HIV status and black lung disease.
The state of Kentucky has an agreement with the EEOC so that residents can file a discrimination case through the EEOC for companies with more than 15 people, or through the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights (KCHR), which oversees cases in businesses with 8-14 people. You don’t have to file with both agencies so long as you indicate that you wish to cross-file your claim between agencies.
Cases filed with the KCHR must be filed within 180 days of the incident, which means you should file your case as quickly as possible even though you have 300 days to file with the EEOC.
The benefit to filing with the KCHR is that Kentucky law does not place a limit on emotional pain and suffering compensation, so there is a benefit to filing with the state over the EEOC when the option is available.
It’s possible that your case could be resolved outside of court, so you do not need an attorney to file your claim, but it can be helpful to work with an employment attorney through the process.
Next Steps to Take
An employment attorney can help you determine if you should file your discrimination case with the KCHR or EEOC in Kentucky while making sure that you have all of the evidence needed and that you’re on top of all of the deadlines.
You cannot file a discrimination lawsuit without going through the EEOC first, so having an employment attorney working on your behalf from the very beginning can be very helpful.
To learn more about how an employment attorney can help you, fill out a free case evaluation.
