HOW DO I FILE
A DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT WITH OCR?
WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR FILING DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINTS?
OCR accepts and investigates complaints of discrimination based on violations of the King County fair employment, fair housing and public accommodations ordinances. OCR is an independent fact-finder, and does not advocate for either side. OCR's services, including case investigations, are free of charge.
Intake:
- Contact the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to talk with an investigator, who will help to determine if it is jurisdictional or appropriate to file a discrimination complaint. Some issues are outside our area of authority because OCR does not handle that geographic area. Sometimes your concern may not involve an allegation of discrimination; if not, we will refer you to appropriate service providers. For example, if you have a landlord-tenant issue instead of a fair housing issue, OCR will refer you to agencies that provide assistance in handling landlord-tenant disputes.
- OCR staff will discuss your situation with you and may request that you provide documentation.
- If the complaint meets our jurisdictional requirements, we prepare a written complaint (also called a "charge") from the information you shared. The complaint must be signed by you, the Charging Party (the person filing the charge) and some complaints must be notarized.
Investigation:
- OCR sends written notice to the person or business named in the charge as a Respondent (the one alleged to have committed the discriminatory act). The Respondent has a chance to respond in writing to the complaint.
- Early in the process, OCR attempts to resolve the complaint through agreement of the parties, using mediation techniques, if the parties agree to participate.
- If an agreed resolution does not occur, then OCR completes its investigation and makes a determination from the evidence whether there is reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred.
- The purpose of the investigation is to determine whether the King County ordinance has been violated. OCR investigators gather evidence in the form of witness interviews, written documents, on-site visits, etc.
- After completing the investigation, OCR makes a determination about whether the evidence indicates "reasonable cause" or "no cause" to believe discrimination occurred. OCR sends a written decision to the Charging Party and Respondent.
- If there is a no cause finding, the Charging Party may appeal that decision to the OCR Manager. If there is a reasonable cause finding, OCR investigators work with the Charging Party and Respondents to develop a written settlement agreement that is signed by all parties. If an agreement between the parties is not possible, OCR will order appropriate remedies, such as back pay, rent refunds, staff training, or other remedies. The Order may be appealed either to a hearing examiner (for fair housing, fair employment or public accommodations) or to a court (for fair housing only).
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP MY CASE?
Gather as much information as you can to give to OCR. Write down the details of what happened to you, including dates, times, who was involved, as well as names of possible witnesses. Keep a ongoing log of events. Save any written materials that relate to your case. Note: Do not try to obtain witness statements—leave that to the OCR investigators.
It is illegal for a Respondent to retaliate against you because you file a discrimination complaint. If it occurs, let OCR know immediately—you can file another complaint which will be investigated regardless of the findings or outcome of the original complaint.
I WANT TO FILE A COMPLAINT. WHAT'S MY NEXT STEP?
Contact OCR by telephone and talk with an investigator. Or send us an e-mail outlining your concerns and an investigator will get back to you. Or complete our online intake questionnaire and submit it. Filling out the intake form does not mean you've filed a complaint, but it starts the process. After we receive your intake form, an investigator will contact you to assist you with the process of filing.
Do you have questions about filing a complaint? Contact us at 206-296-7592 or 206-296-7596 TTY, or visit our office at the Yesler Building in Seattle.
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Updated: June 25, 2007
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