Can I file with both the Kentucky commission and a court?

Not at the same time. KRS 344.270 provides that the commission shall not take jurisdiction over a claim under the chapter while a claim of the same person seeking relief for the same grievance under KRS 344.450 is pending, and that a state court shall not take jurisdiction while a claim of the same person is pending before the commission. The same section provides that a final determination by a state court or a final order of the commission excludes any other administrative action or proceeding under KRS Chapter 13B by the same person on the same grievance. The text addresses later administrative proceedings, so what a completed agency case does to a later court case is a question to raise with a lawyer before you pick a forum.

Does Kentucky law cover my employer, or do I only have a federal claim?

For most harassment claims Kentucky reaches lower than federal law. KRS 344.030(2) defines an employer as a person who has eight or more employees within the state in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, against the fifteen federal Title VII requires. So an employer with eight to fourteen Kentucky employees can face a state harassment claim based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex or age with no federal exposure. The twenty-week element matters for seasonal work, because crossing eight briefly may not be enough.

Why do disability harassment claims in Kentucky need a bigger employer?

Because the same definition carries three different numbers. KRS 344.030(2) sets the general threshold at eight employees, but says that except for purposes of determining discrimination based on disability, employer means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees, and that except for purposes of determining accommodations for an employee's own limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, employer means a person who has fifteen or more employees. The practical result is that a ten-person Kentucky employer can be liable for sexual or racial harassment under the state act and be outside it for a disability claim entirely.

Are there Kentucky workers the Civil Rights Act leaves out?

Yes. KRS 344.030(5)(a) provides that employee does not include an individual employed by his parents, spouse or child, or an individual employed to render services as a domestic in the home of the employer, so household workers are outside the act regardless of anything else. KRS 344.030(5) also provides that neither a franchisee nor a franchisee's employee shall be deemed to be an employee of the franchisor for any purpose under the chapter, which forecloses the argument that a large brand is your employer. Anyone in those categories should ask a Kentucky employment lawyer what else may apply.

Does Kentucky protect me from harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity?

Not in the state statute. KRS 344.040 lists race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age forty and over, disability, and smoker or nonsmoker status, and neither sexual orientation nor gender identity nor marital status appears. The local layer is real in Kentucky, though: KRS 344.300 authorizes cities and counties to adopt and enforce ordinances, orders and resolutions prohibiting all forms of discrimination, and KRS 344.310 to 344.350 provide for local human rights commissions with their own enforcement. Check the ordinance for the city or county where you actually work, because coverage, thresholds and deadlines are set locally.

Is smoking really a protected class in Kentucky?

It is, and Kentucky is unusual in this. KRS 344.040(1)(a) makes it an unlawful practice for an employer to discriminate against an individual because the individual is a smoker or nonsmoker, as long as the person complies with any workplace policy concerning smoking. KRS 344.040(1)(d) goes further and makes it unlawful to require as a condition of employment that any employee or applicant abstain from smoking or using tobacco products outside the course of employment. KRS 344.040(2) preserves differences in health plan contribution rates and smoking cessation incentives, and the protection depends on your complying with the workplace smoking policy.

Does my employer have to provide harassment training in Kentucky?

Not under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. The only affirmative employer duty in the chapter is a notice requirement, and it is about pregnancy rather than harassment: KRS 344.040(3) requires an employer to provide written notice of the right to be free from discrimination in relation to pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, including the right to reasonable accommodations, to new employees at the commencement of employment. This answer is scoped to the sections of KRS chapter 344 reviewed here, so requirements sitting elsewhere in Kentucky law or in your particular industry were not part of it.

Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Kentucky

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team - Kentucky - Last updated September 15, 2026

Kentucky does not make you go to the state agency first. KRS 344.200(1) says a person claiming to be aggrieved may file a complaint with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, and KRS 344.450 separately provides that any person injured by any act in violation of the chapter shall have a civil cause of action in Circuit Court to enjoin further violations and to recover the actual damages sustained, together with the costs of the law suit, with the court's order including a reasonable fee for the plaintiff's attorney. Nothing conditions that action on an agency filing. Kentucky therefore sits in the optional family rather than the exhaustion family, and the practical consequence is that missing the 180-day agency deadline closes the agency door and not the courthouse. That makes the court limitations period the number that matters, and it changed. The General Assembly enacted KRS 413.115 by 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 157, House Bill 320, effective July 15, 2024. It provides that an action for a violation of KRS 344.030 to 344.110 or 344.372 shall be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued, and a workplace harassment claim sits squarely inside that block. Before that section existed, the period came from the residual rule in KRS 413.120(2) for an action upon a liability created by statute when no other time is fixed, which was five years. House Bill 320 contains no retroactivity provision. So a claim that accrued on or after July 15, 2024 is governed by the three-year period, while the position for an older claim is a question to put to a Kentucky employment lawyer immediately rather than to assume in either direction. Coverage in Kentucky is not one number but three. KRS 344.030(2) defines an employer as a person who has eight or more employees within the state in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and then sets fifteen for determining discrimination based on disability and fifteen for determining accommodations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Race, color, religion, national origin, sex and age harassment therefore reach an eight-employee Kentucky employer, well below federal Title VII's fifteen. Your EEOC charge is still due within 180 days of the act, extended to 300 days in Kentucky. If your situation involves assault, threats or stalking, contact emergency services and speak with an attorney.

Find out where you stand in Kentucky

Where are you with the harassment complaint?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

How long do I have to file a workplace harassment complaint in Kentucky?

Kentucky has two clocks and they answer different questions. A complaint to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights must be filed within 180 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurs, under KRS 344.200(1). A court action under KRS 344.450 runs on its own period: KRS 413.115, effective July 15, 2024, requires an action for a violation of KRS 344.030 to 344.110 to be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued. Because the agency route is optional in Kentucky, the court period is the one that decides whether a claim survives.

Do I have to file with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights before I can sue?

No. KRS 344.200(1) says a person may file a complaint with the commission, and KRS 344.450 gives any person injured by an act in violation of the chapter a civil cause of action in Circuit Court with no precondition attached. That action allows an injunction, the actual damages sustained, the costs of the law suit, and a reasonable fee for the plaintiff's attorney of record, along with any other remedies in the chapter. Kentucky is therefore an optional-agency state, which is the opposite of how states like Ohio and Texas work.

Has the Kentucky deadline for suing over workplace harassment changed?

Yes, in 2024. KRS 413.115 was enacted by 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 157, House Bill 320, effective July 15, 2024, and requires an action for a violation of KRS 344.030 to 344.110 or 344.372 to be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued. Before that, the period was supplied by the residual rule at KRS 413.120(2) for an action upon a liability created by statute where no other time is fixed, which is where the widely published five-year figure came from. House Bill 320 contains no retroactivity provision, so if your claim accrued before July 15, 2024 the question of which period applies should go to a Kentucky employment lawyer without delay.

The agency window is not the clock that ends a Kentucky claim, and the clock that does was shortened in 2024 by a statute most published guidance has not caught up with.

Filing with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights is optional, not a precondition. KRS 344.200(1) is permissive in its terms, and KRS 344.450 gives any person injured by a violation of the chapter a civil cause of action in Circuit Court with no agency step attached. That action allows an injunction, the actual damages sustained, the costs of the law suit, and a reasonable fee for the plaintiff's attorney. Missing the agency deadline therefore closes the agency and leaves the court claim intact.

Relevant Laws

KRS 344.200(1): 180 Days to File with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights

A complaint to the commission must be filed within 180 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurs. The section contains no continuing violation or last act language, so count from the incident you want covered.

KRS 344.450: A Circuit Court Action With No Agency Step Required

Any person injured by an act in violation of the chapter has a civil cause of action in Circuit Court to enjoin further violations and recover actual damages and costs, and the court's order includes a reasonable attorney fee. Nothing conditions this on filing with the commission.

KRS 413.115: Three Years to Sue for Claims Accruing On or After July 15, 2024

Enacted by 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 157, the section requires an action for a violation of KRS 344.030 to 344.110 or 344.372 to be commenced within three years after accrual. The act carries no retroactivity provision, so the position for claims that accrued earlier, when the KRS 413.120(2) residual applied, is one to take to a lawyer.

KRS 344.030(2): Eight Employees Across Twenty Calendar Weeks

Employer means a person who has eight or more employees within the state in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and an agent of such a person. The twenty-week element matters for seasonal employers.

KRS 344.030(2): Fifteen Employees for Disability and for Pregnancy Accommodation

For determining discrimination based on disability, employer means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce with fifteen or more employees, and the same fifteen applies to accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. The eight-employee rule governs everything else.

Regional Variances

How Kentucky differs

The Kentucky agency deadline is 180 days after the

The Kentucky agency deadline is 180 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurs, under KRS 344.200(1). There is no continuing violation or last act language anywhere in that section, so do not assume the clock restarts with each new incident the way it expressly does in some states. If you intend to use the commission, treat the earliest incident you want covered as the start. KRS 344.200(2) then requires the commission to determine probable cause within thirty days after the complaint has been filed, and KRS 344.200(3) gives ten days to seek reconsideration.

The court deadline was cut in 2024 and most

The court deadline was cut in 2024 and most published guidance has not caught up. KRS 413.115, enacted by 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 157 and effective July 15, 2024, requires an action for a violation of KRS 344.030 to 344.110 or 344.372 to be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued. The older figure of five years came from the residual rule at KRS 413.120(2) for a liability created by statute where no other time is fixed. Any source telling a Kentuckian they have five years to sue over workplace harassment is describing the position before that section existed.

Whether the three years or the older period applies

Whether the three years or the older period applies to your claim depends on when it accrued, and the act does not answer it for you. House Bill 320 contains no retroactivity provision. For a claim accruing on or after July 15, 2024 the three-year period in KRS 413.115 is the one to work to. For a claim that accrued before that date, the question of which period governs is exactly the sort of thing that should go to a Kentucky employment lawyer straight away, because guessing wrong in the generous direction ends the claim.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

KRS 344.030(5): Domestic and Family Employment, and Franchisees, Are Outside the Act

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Employee does not include an individual employed by his parents, spouse or child, or employed to render services as a domestic in the home of the employer. Neither a franchisee nor a franchisee's employee is an employee of the franchisor for any purpose under the chapter.

KRS 344.040(1): The Kentucky Class List, Including Smoker and Nonsmoker Status

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The act covers race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age forty and over, qualified individuals with a disability, and smoker or nonsmoker status, the last conditioned on complying with any workplace policy concerning smoking. Sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status are not listed.

KRS 344.300: Check the Local Ordinance Where You Work

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Cities and counties are authorized to adopt and enforce ordinances, orders and resolutions prohibiting all forms of discrimination, with local human rights commissions under KRS 344.310 to 344.350. Local coverage, thresholds and deadlines are set locally and differ from the state act.

KRS 344.200(2)-(3): A Thirty-Day Probable Cause Call and Ten Days to Seek Reconsideration

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The commission must determine probable cause within thirty days after the complaint has been filed, and a party has ten days to seek reconsideration under KRS 344.200(3). Watch for the determination rather than waiting to be chased.

Task	Description	Document	Days after starting
KRS 344.030(5): Domestic and Family Employment, and Franchisees, Are Outside the Act	Employee does not include an individual employed by his parents, spouse or child, or employed to render services as a domestic in the home of the employer. Neither a franchisee nor a franchisee's employee is an employee of the franchisor for any purpose under the chapter.	-	See your deadline
KRS 344.040(1): The Kentucky Class List, Including Smoker and Nonsmoker Status	The act covers race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age forty and over, qualified individuals with a disability, and smoker or nonsmoker status, the last conditioned on complying with any workplace policy concerning smoking. Sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status are not listed.	-	See your deadline
KRS 344.300: Check the Local Ordinance Where You Work	Cities and counties are authorized to adopt and enforce ordinances, orders and resolutions prohibiting all forms of discrimination, with local human rights commissions under KRS 344.310 to 344.350. Local coverage, thresholds and deadlines are set locally and differ from the state act.	-	See your deadline
KRS 344.200(2)-(3): A Thirty-Day Probable Cause Call and Ten Days to Seek Reconsideration	The commission must determine probable cause within thirty days after the complaint has been filed, and a party has ten days to seek reconsideration under KRS 344.200(3). Watch for the determination rather than waiting to be chased.	-	See your deadline

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Kentucky guides

Adverse Possession in Kentucky: Fifteen Years, or Seven With Record Title

Asset Protection Planning in Kentucky (2026)

Dealing With Debt Collectors in Kentucky (2026)

Expunging a Criminal Record in Kentucky (2026)

Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Kentucky (2026)

Firing an Employee in Kentucky (2026)

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