Discrimination at Work
ORC 4112.02 — two years, and a step that has to come before court
Ohio's discrimination chapter was rewritten in 2021, and anything written about it before that describes a set of deadlines that no longer exist. The civil limitation period used to be longer. It is two years now, and it is the same two for the administrative route, which is the smaller of the two changes.
Who handles this in Ohio: Advocates for Basic Legal Equality and Ohio Civil Rights Commission; and legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Complaining is covered in its own right. The same section makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person to discriminate in any manner against another because that person opposed an unlawful discriminatory practice, or because that person made a charge, testified, assisted or took part in an investigation, proceeding or hearing under the chapter.
Court is not the first stop, and going there first does not work. A civil action cannot be filed unless a timely charge has already been filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and then either the commission has issued a right to sue notice or more than forty five days have passed without one. Somebody who waits eighteen months and then files a lawsuit, comfortably inside the two years, has a claim that fails on the procedure rather than on the facts. The administrative step is a precondition, not an alternative.
The clock stops while the commission is working. The limitation period is tolled during the commission's investigation, so filing a charge protects the time rather than spending it.
| Step | What it is |
|---|---|
| StepTwo years | What it isTo file a charge with the commission, and the same two years for a civil action |
| StepThe charge | What it isFiled with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Required before any lawsuit |
| StepTolling | What it isThe limitation period pauses while the commission investigates |
| StepRight to sue | What it isIssued by the commission, or the forty five days pass without one |
| StepCourt | What it isOnly after one of those two things has happened |
The characteristics the section protects are race, color, religion, sex, military status, national origin, disability, age and ancestry. The chapter reaches beyond employment into housing and public accommodation, though the procedure on this page is the employment one.
The supervisor is usually not a defendant any more. The same rewrite removed individual liability for supervisors, managers and other employees acting in the interest of an employer. There are exceptions: where that individual is the employer, and where the claim is retaliation or aiding and abetting an unlawful discriminatory practice. So the named manager is often no longer somebody a claim can be brought against, which is a change from how these cases were framed before 2021.
“When did the thing happen, and has a charge been filed yet.”
Federal claims under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act run on their own much shorter deadlines through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and missing those is a separate way to lose a claim that this page does not cover. Which employers the chapter reaches, what counts as an adverse action, and how the two systems interact are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney, and many employment attorneys take these cases on a contingency.
Sources for this section (5)
- ORC 4112.02 — Unlawful discriminatory practices, and who the chapter protects
- Ohio Civil Rights Commission — Where a charge of discrimination is filed, and what it does with one
- ORC 4112.08 — How the chapter is construed, including individual liability
- ORC 4112.052 — The employment discrimination civil action, and the two years to bring it
- ORC 4112.05 — A charge before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and the time to file it
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.