Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Oregon

No, and this is the one irreversible choice on the page. ORS 659A.820(4)(a) provides that a complaint may not be filed under that section if a civil action has been commenced in state or federal court alleging the same matters. ORS 659A.830(1) goes further and provides that all authority of the Commissioner to conduct investigations or other proceedings to resolve a complaint filed under ORS 659A.820 ceases upon the filing of a civil action by the complainant alleging the same matters. Filing suit closes the agency route on the same facts.

It can, and this is the strongest practical reason to file early. ORS 659A.885(1) limits back pay to the two-year period immediately preceding the filing of a complaint under ORS 659A.820, or, where no complaint was filed before the action was commenced, the two-year period immediately preceding the filing of the action. A claim brought in year four is timely, but lost wages from years one and two of the conduct can fall outside what is recoverable. Filing the bureau complaint sets that two-year window at an earlier date even though the filing itself is optional.

Oregon reaches far smaller employers than federal law. ORS 659A.001(4)(a) defines employer as any person who in this state, directly or through an agent, engages or uses the personal service of one or more employees, reserving the right to control the means by which such service is or will be performed. One employee is enough, and the definition is framed on control rather than on a headcount over calendar weeks. ORS 659A.001(3) excludes an individual employed by that individual's parents, spouse or child, or in the domestic service of any person.

ORS 659A.030(1) reaches discrimination in terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, or age if the individual is 18 years of age or older. Two Oregon features go beyond the federal list. The age floor is 18 rather than 40, so a 25-year-old has an age claim. And association is express, covering conduct because of the protected characteristics of any other person with whom the individual associates, along with an expunged juvenile record. ORS 659A.001(11) includes natural hair, hair texture, hair type and protective hairstyles within race, and ORS 659A.029 defines because of sex to include pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions or occurrences.

A written policy, and there is no minimum employer size. ORS 659A.375(1) requires every employer in this state to adopt a written policy containing procedures and practices for the reduction and prevention of discrimination prohibited by ORS 659A.030, including sexual assault as defined in ORS 659A.370, and discrimination prohibited by ORS 659A.082 and 659A.112. The policy must be made available to employees within the workplace at all times and provided to each employee at the time of hire. ORS 659A.375(2)(c) requires it to include the limitations period applicable to your right of action, and ORS 659A.375(4) requires the bureau to publish model policies on its website.

Not as a condition of employment. ORS 659A.370 makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to require a nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreement covering discrimination prohibited by ORS 659A.030, including conduct that constitutes sexual assault, and ORS 659A.370(5) carries a civil penalty of up to $5,000. Your employer's written policy must also state that it may not require or coerce such an agreement and must explain your right to voluntarily request one, with at least seven days to revoke it. A violation of ORS 659A.370 is itself on the five-year list in ORS 659A.820(3).