Does filing with the EEOC extend my Louisiana deadline?

It can, up to six months. La. R.S. 23:303(D) suspends the one-year prescriptive period during the pendency of any administrative review or investigation of the claim conducted by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights, and then provides that no such suspension shall last longer than six months. That makes an administrative charge genuinely useful to a Louisiana state claim rather than just a parallel track. It also means a long investigation will not keep the state claim alive past the cap, so keep counting rather than waiting for the agency to finish.

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

Louisiana is one of the states where the answer can be the reverse of what you expect. La. R.S. 23:302(2) applies the chapter only to an employer who employs twenty or more employees within this state for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, while federal Title VII reaches employers with fifteen. A worker at a business with fifteen to nineteen Louisiana employees therefore has a federal claim and no state claim. Because the count is limited to employees within Louisiana, a national company's out-of-state headcount does not bring a small local site into the state law.

Are Louisiana nonprofits covered by the state discrimination law?

No, and the exclusion is unusually wide. La. R.S. 23:302(2)(b) removes from the chapter the employment of an individual by a private educational or religious institution or any nonprofit corporation, with no size qualifier and no limit to religious employers. So a worker at a Louisiana charity, hospital foundation or trade association organized as a nonprofit has no claim under this chapter at all. Federal law has no comparable exemption, so the EEOC route is the one to look at, subject to the fifteen-employee threshold.

Are there other Louisiana workers left out of the Employment Discrimination Law?

Yes. La. R.S. 23:302(2)(a) excludes employment of an individual by a parent, spouse or child, and employment in the domestic service of the employer, so household workers are outside the chapter regardless of the employer's size. That sits alongside the twenty-employee threshold in La. R.S. 23:302(2) and the exclusion of private educational and religious institutions and nonprofit corporations in La. R.S. 23:302(2)(b). Anyone in one of those categories should ask a Louisiana employment lawyer what federal or local routes remain.

What kinds of harassment does Louisiana law cover?

La. R.S. 23:332(A)(1) reaches conduct with respect to compensation, or terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of an individual's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, military status, or natural, protective or cultural hairstyle. One word runs through the whole section and is worth noticing: every operative clause requires intentional conduct, and the section itself is titled intentional discrimination in employment. That is not the way federal Title VII is phrased, and how it applies to a hostile environment theory built on an employer's response to coworker conduct is a question for a Louisiana employment lawyer. The chapter also covers age, disability and pregnancy in separate Parts with their own scope provisions.

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

Not in La. R.S. 23:332. The grounds listed there are race, color, religion, sex, national origin, military status, and natural, protective or cultural hairstyle, and neither sexual orientation nor gender identity appears. That leaves the federal route and its fifteen-employee threshold. It is also worth checking whether the parish or municipality where you work has an ordinance of its own, since the state statute contemplates that an employer may carry obligations under a local ordinance as well.

Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Louisiana

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

Louisiana does not route workplace harassment through a state agency. The Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law at La. R.S. 23:301 and following creates a court remedy directly: R.S. 23:303(A) provides that a plaintiff who has a cause of action against an employer, employment agency or labor organization for a violation of the chapter may file a civil suit in a district court seeking compensatory damages, back pay, benefits, reinstatement, or if appropriate front pay, reasonable attorney fees and court costs. There is no right-to-sue letter in the statute, because nothing requires you to go to an agency at all. What the statute does require is a warning to the employer. R.S. 23:303(C) provides that a plaintiff who believes he or she has been discriminated against, and who intends to pursue court action, shall give the person who has allegedly discriminated written notice of this fact at least thirty days before initiating court action, shall detail the alleged discrimination, and that both parties shall make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute prior to initiating court action. The period for the claim itself is one year. R.S. 23:303(D) subjects any cause of action provided in the chapter to a prescriptive period of one year, and R.S. 23:303(E) then provides that, notwithstanding subsection D, there shall be no interruption of prescription resulting from a plaintiff's giving or failing to give the notice required in subsection C. Put those together and the practical deadline to start the process is eleven months, not twelve, because the thirty days you must wait after sending the notice come out of the same year. Coverage runs the opposite way from most states. R.S. 23:302(2) provides that the chapter applies only to an employer who employs twenty or more employees within this state for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. Federal Title VII needs fifteen. A Louisiana worker at a business with fifteen to nineteen employees therefore has a federal claim and no state claim, which is the reverse of the pattern national guidance usually describes. An EEOC charge is due within 180 days of the act, extended to 300 days in Louisiana. If your situation involves assault, threats or stalking, contact emergency services and speak with an attorney.

Find out where you stand in Louisiana

Where are you with the harassment complaint?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

How long do I have to bring a workplace harassment claim in Louisiana?

One year, but treat it as eleven. La. R.S. 23:303(D) subjects any cause of action under the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law to a prescriptive period of one year. The reason to work to eleven months is La. R.S. 23:303(C), which requires you to give the employer written notice at least thirty days before initiating court action, combined with La. R.S. 23:303(E), which says there is no interruption of prescription from giving that notice. Sending the notice at eleven months and a day leaves you unable to file before the year has run.

Do I have to file with a state agency before I can sue in Louisiana?

No. La. R.S. 23:303(A) allows a plaintiff who has a cause of action under the chapter to file a civil suit in a district court seeking compensatory damages, back pay, benefits, reinstatement, or if appropriate front pay, reasonable attorney fees and court costs, with no agency step in the way. There is no right-to-sue letter anywhere in the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law. What the statute does require before court is a private notice to the employer under La. R.S. 23:303(C), which is a different thing from an agency filing.

Why does Louisiana require thirty days notice before you sue?

La. R.S. 23:303(C) provides that a plaintiff who believes he or she has been discriminated against, and who intends to pursue court action, shall give the person who has allegedly discriminated written notice of this fact at least thirty days before initiating court action, shall detail the alleged discrimination, and that both parties shall make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute prior to initiating court action. Two features matter in practice. The notice goes to the employer you are accusing, not to a regulator, and it has to detail the discrimination rather than simply announce it. What happens procedurally if the notice is not given is not stated in the statute, which is a reason to get it right with a Louisiana employment lawyer rather than to test it.

You have one year, but a month of it is spent on a notice the law makes you send to the employer first, and the clock does not stop while you wait.

There is no mandatory agency step in Louisiana. R.S. 23:303(A) lets a plaintiff with a cause of action under the chapter file a civil suit in a district court seeking compensatory damages, back pay, benefits, reinstatement, or if appropriate front pay, reasonable attorney fees and court costs. No right-to-sue letter appears anywhere in the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law. The Louisiana Commission on Human Rights and the EEOC are still worth using, but in Louisiana their main statutory effect on a state claim is to buy time, not to unlock the courthouse.

Relevant Laws

La. R.S. 23:303(D): A One-Year Prescriptive Period

Any cause of action provided in the chapter is subject to a prescriptive period of one year. Louisiana is a civil law state, so prescription is suspended or interrupted under its own rules rather than by common law tolling concepts.

La. R.S. 23:303(E): The Notice Does Not Interrupt Prescription

There is no interruption of prescription resulting from a plaintiff's giving or failing to give the subsection C notice. Combined with the thirty-day wait, that makes the practical deadline to send the notice eleven months from accrual rather than twelve.

La. R.S. 23:303(D): Administrative Review Suspends the Clock, Capped at Six Months

The one-year period is suspended during the pendency of any administrative review or investigation of the claim by the EEOC or the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights, and no such suspension may last longer than six months.

La. R.S. 23:302(2): Twenty Employees Within Louisiana Across Twenty Weeks

The chapter applies only to an employer employing twenty or more employees within this state for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. That is above the federal threshold of fifteen.

La. R.S. 23:302(2)(b): Nonprofits and Private Educational and Religious Institutions Are Excluded

Employment by a private educational or religious institution or any nonprofit corporation is outside the chapter, with no size qualifier and no limit to religious employers. Federal law has no equivalent exemption.

Regional Variances

How Louisiana differs

The Louisiana period is one year, and the correct

The Louisiana period is one year, and the correct word for it is prescription. R.S. 23:303(D) provides that any cause of action provided in the chapter shall be subject to a prescriptive period of one year. Louisiana is a civil law jurisdiction, and prescription can be suspended or interrupted under rules that do not map onto common law tolling, so treat guidance written for other states with care. Suspension and interruption are different things here, and the statute grants one and withholds the other.

The thirty-day notice is the trap, because the clock

The thirty-day notice is the trap, because the clock keeps running through it. R.S. 23:303(C) makes the notice mandatory before court action, requires it to detail the alleged discrimination, and requires both parties to make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute first. R.S. 23:303(E) then says there shall be no interruption of prescription resulting from a plaintiff's giving or failing to give that notice. A worker who sends the notice on day 350 of the year cannot lawfully file until day 380, by which point the year has run, so plan on eleven months and send the notice well before that.

Administrative review is what suspends the Louisiana clock, and

Administrative review is what suspends the Louisiana clock, and only up to a point. R.S. 23:303(D) provides that the one-year period shall be suspended during the pendency of any administrative review or investigation of the claim conducted by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights, and that no such suspension shall last longer than six months. That makes an EEOC charge genuinely useful to a Louisiana state claim rather than merely parallel to it. The six-month cap also means a long federal investigation will not keep the state claim alive indefinitely, so watch both clocks.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

La. R.S. 23:302(2)(b): Nonprofits and Private Educational and Religious Institutions Are Excluded

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La. R.S. 23:302(2)(a): Domestic and Family Employment Is Excluded

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Employment of an individual by a parent, spouse or child, and employment in the domestic service of the employer, are outside the chapter regardless of the employer's size.

La. R.S. 23:332(A)(1) and (I): Military Status and Protected Hairstyles Are Covered Grounds

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The grounds are race, color, religion, sex, national origin, military status, and natural, protective or cultural hairstyle, the last defined to include afros, dreadlocks, twists, locs, braids, cornrow braids, Bantu knots, curls, and hair styled to protect hair texture or for cultural significance.

La. R.S. 23:332: The Section Requires Intentional Discrimination

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Every operative clause is framed around intentional conduct, and the section is titled intentional discrimination in employment. That wording differs from federal Title VII and is worth raising with a lawyer where the claim rests on how an employer responded to coworker conduct.

Task	Description	Document	Days after starting
La. R.S. 23:302(2)(b): Nonprofits and Private Educational and Religious Institutions Are Excluded	Employment by a private educational or religious institution or any nonprofit corporation is outside the chapter, with no size qualifier and no limit to religious employers. Federal law has no equivalent exemption.	-	See your deadline
La. R.S. 23:302(2)(a): Domestic and Family Employment Is Excluded	Employment of an individual by a parent, spouse or child, and employment in the domestic service of the employer, are outside the chapter regardless of the employer's size.	-	See your deadline
La. R.S. 23:332(A)(1) and (I): Military Status and Protected Hairstyles Are Covered Grounds	The grounds are race, color, religion, sex, national origin, military status, and natural, protective or cultural hairstyle, the last defined to include afros, dreadlocks, twists, locs, braids, cornrow braids, Bantu knots, curls, and hair styled to protect hair texture or for cultural significance.	-	See your deadline
La. R.S. 23:332: The Section Requires Intentional Discrimination	Every operative clause is framed around intentional conduct, and the section is titled intentional discrimination in employment. That wording differs from federal Title VII and is worth raising with a lawyer where the claim rests on how an employer responded to coworker conduct.	-	See your deadline

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Louisiana guides

Adverse Possession in Louisiana: Acquisitive Prescription at Ten or Thirty Years

Asset Protection Planning in Louisiana (2026)

Dealing With Debt Collectors in Louisiana (2026)

Expunging a Criminal Record in Louisiana (2026)

Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Louisiana (2026)

Firing an Employee in Louisiana (2026)

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