Right-to-sue notice

What it is

A right-to-sue notice is the Civil Rights Department's written notice that the employee may bring a civil action under FEHA against the parties named in the complaint. It ends administrative exhaustion for FEHA claims. The EEOC issues its own, separate notice of right to sue for federal claims.

The rule and its deadlines

The CRD complaint must be filed within three years of the unlawful practice (Government Code section 12960(e)). A represented plaintiff often requests an immediate notice, in which case the CRD closes the complaint without investigating. If the CRD investigates and does not bring its own civil action within 150 days, it must issue the notice on request, and otherwise must issue it within one year of filing (Government Code section 12965(c)(1)(A)). The notice states that the person may sue within one year from the date of the notice (section 12965(c)(1)(D)). That deadline is tolled during CRD dispute resolution, for the period in a written agreement between the CRD and the respondent, and in other listed circumstances (section 12965(c)(1)(F)). When a charge was dual-filed and deferred to the EEOC, the deadline becomes the later of the federal deadline or one year from the CRD notice (section 12965(e)).

Why it matters to a plaintiff firm

The one-year filing deadline is one of the most consequential dates in an employment practice, and an immediate notice starts it the day it issues. Firms calendar it on receipt. Use the right-to-sue deadline calculator and the FEHA right-to-sue deadlines guide.