The Charge Before the Lawsuit
ORC 4112.05 — two years to file with the commission, and a lawsuit that waits behind it
For most of the chapter's history a person alleging employment discrimination in Ohio had six months to file with the commission and could go to court without filing at all. Both halves of that changed in 2021, and the change runs in opposite directions: more time, and a step that is no longer optional.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio Civil Rights Commission; and legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Two years to file the charge. A charge of an unlawful discriminatory practice in employment is filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission within two years after the alleged practice. The change extended the period from six months, and took effect on the fifteenth of April 2021.
The charge comes before the court, not instead of it or alongside it. A person alleging employment discrimination first files a charge with the commission and exhausts that administrative remedy before bringing a civil action alleging the same practice. A lawsuit filed without a charge behind it is a lawsuit the statute now says came too early.
The same change imposed a two year limitation on the civil action itself, so the charge and the lawsuit share a horizon measured from the practice complained of, and the time spent before the commission is accounted for in the chapter's own terms rather than left to argument.
| The question | Since the fifteenth of April 2021 |
|---|---|
| The questionTime to file a charge with the commission | Since the fifteenth of April 2021Two years after the alleged practice |
| The questionIs the charge required before suing | Since the fifteenth of April 2021Yes, the administrative remedy is exhausted first |
| The questionTime to bring the civil action | Since the fifteenth of April 2021Two years, in the chapter's own terms |
| The questionWhat it replaced | Since the fifteenth of April 2021Six months to file, and a lawsuit that could go straight to court |
The federal commission has its own charge, its own deadline and a work sharing arrangement with the state one, and a charge filed with either is commonly treated as filed with both for the purposes of the other's process. Which route fits a particular claim is not a question this page answers.
Housing and public accommodation charges under the same chapter, the commission's investigation and conciliation steps, what tolls the two years, the age discrimination provisions that had their own routes before the change, and the federal charge process are each outside this page. Whether a particular practice is one the chapter reaches, and whether time has run on it, are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney, and the commission's regional offices take charges directly.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORC 4112.05 — A charge before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and the time to file it
- ORC 4112.02 — Unlawful discriminatory practices, and who the chapter protects
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.