By Attorney Lei Jiang, Lei Jiang LLC.
Do not panic — and do not fire off a reply. An accusation is not a finding, but the first days decide how the case goes. In Ohio, the employee generally has 300 days from the incident to file a charge with the EEOC, and the agency will ask you for a written response. What you write and preserve now shapes everything that follows.
First, preserve everything: emails, schedules, pay records, performance reviews, and messages about the employee — and tell everyone who might hold them not to delete anything. Destroying records after a complaint is the fastest way to turn a defensible case into a losing one. Even routine auto-deletion of emails should be switched off for the people involved.
Second, do not punish the person who complained — not by firing, demotion, schedule changes, or cold treatment. Retaliation is a separate claim, and it is often easier for the employee to prove than the discrimination itself. Keep the employee’s work conditions exactly as they were unless there is a documented, unrelated business reason for a change.
Third, get advice before you respond to the agency. The EEOC charge and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission process run on different clocks — Ohio’s own discrimination deadline is two years — and a single charge can be filed with both agencies at once. A lawyer can frame the response and keep a routine personnel dispute from becoming a lawsuit. Most charges are resolved at the agency stage when the response is careful and complete.
Do this first: preserve the records, freeze any action against the employee, and call a lawyer before you answer the charge.
Questions? Contact us at info@leijianglaw.com or (440) 835-2271, or book a free 15-minute call: https://calendly.com/leijianglaw-info/15-minute-consultation
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice.