Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Rhode Island
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team - Rhode Island - Last updated September 15, 2026
Rhode Island gives you one year, and it is generous about where the year starts. R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-17(a) refers to a charge that unlawful employment practices have occurred, have terminated, or have been applied to affect adversely the person aggrieved, whichever is later, within one year. Three alternative start dates, with an express whichever is later. For harassment, which is a course of conduct rather than a single event, the second of those is the one that matters: the year can run from the date the practice terminated. The third covers a standing policy or practice that only later comes to affect you. The agency is the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, created by Section 28-5-8 as a seven member commission appointed by the governor. If you go looking for a Rhode Island Commission Against Discrimination you will not find one operating under that name, even though the definitions section at Section 28-5-6(3) still uses the old phrase. Both names are live text in the current code. The agency is RICHR. After the charge, three more numbers take over, and they are the part of Rhode Island practice that catches people. Under Section 28-5-24.1(a) you may ask the commission for a right to sue only if not less than one hundred and twenty days and not more than two years have elapsed from the date the charge was filed, only if the commission has been unable to secure a settlement or conciliation agreement, and only if it has not commenced a hearing. The commission must grant the request within thirty days, and the grant starts a ninety day clock to file in superior court. So the request is a window that closes at both ends, and a complainant who waits passively can be timed out of it. Coverage under Section 28-5-6(9)(i) reaches any person in the state employing four or more individuals, against the fifteen federal Title VII requires. The federal route runs in parallel on its own clock of 180 days, extended to 300 days where a state or local agency enforces a law prohibiting the same discrimination. If what you are facing involves assault, threats or stalking, contact emergency services and speak with an attorney rather than starting with a complaint form.
Find out where you stand in Rhode Island
Where are you with the harassment complaint?
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How long do I have to file a workplace harassment complaint in Rhode Island?
One year, and the start date is unusually favorable. R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-17(a) describes a charge that the unlawful employment practices have occurred, have terminated, or have been applied to affect adversely the person aggrieved, whichever is later, within one year. Because harassment is a course of conduct, the have terminated prong often controls, so the year can run from the date the conduct stopped. Keep in mind this is the deadline for the charge to the commission, not the deadline for a lawsuit, which runs on its own periods measured from the date the charge was filed.
Do I have to file with the commission before I can sue in Rhode Island?
Chapter 28-5 gives you no other way in. It never uses the word exhaust, but Section 28-5-24.1 is the only route to superior court the chapter provides, and every branch of it assumes a charge is already on file, whether through a right to sue request or through the election either party can make after a probable cause finding. So treat the charge as the necessary first step for a fair employment practices claim. Whether some other Rhode Island statute outside chapter 28-5 would let you file directly in court is a separate question worth putting to a Rhode Island employment lawyer before you choose a route.
When can I ask for a right to sue in Rhode Island, and when is it too late?
The window opens at 120 days and closes at two years. Section 28-5-24.1(a) allows the request if not less than one hundred and twenty days and not more than two years have elapsed from the date of filing of a charge, if the commission has been unable to secure a settlement agreement or conciliation agreement, and if the commission has not commenced hearing on a complaint. You cannot ask in the first four months. After two years from the charge you cannot ask at all. Because the commission sets its own pace, a complainant who waits quietly for news can run out the ceiling, so calendar the two year date from the day you file.
Four separate numbers govern a case here, and the one most readers search for is only the first of them.
One year, measured from the latest of three possible dates. R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-17(a) describes a charge that the unlawful employment practices have occurred, have terminated, or have been applied to affect adversely the person aggrieved, whichever is later, within one year. That phrasing puts a continuing violation rule inside the limitations text itself, which many states do not do. For a harassment claim the practical effect is that the year can run from the day the conduct stopped rather than the day it started.
Relevant Laws
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-17(a): One Year, From the Later of Three Dates
The charge period runs one year from when the unlawful employment practices have occurred, have terminated, or have been applied to affect adversely the person aggrieved, whichever is later. For ongoing harassment the termination date often controls.
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-24.1(c)(1): Either Party May Elect Court After Probable Cause
Within twenty days after receipt of a finding of probable cause, the complainant or the respondent may terminate all commission proceedings by written notice and have the case heard in superior court. Either party may then claim a jury trial.
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-6(9)(i): Four Individuals in the State
Employer includes the state and all political subdivisions and any person in this state employing four or more individuals, plus any person acting in the interest of an employer directly or indirectly. Federal Title VII requires fifteen.
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-6(8): Domestic and Close Family Employees Are Excluded
The term employee does not include any individual employed by their parents, spouse, or child, or in the domestic service of any person. Section 28-5-6(9)(ii) separately exempts religious bodies as to employment of individuals of their religion.
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-7(1)(vi): A Required Confidentiality Clause Is Void
An employer may not require, as a condition of employment, a nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreement keeping alleged civil rights violations confidential, and any contract provision doing so is void as a violation of public policy.
Regional Variances
How Rhode Island differs
The one year is the charge deadline, not the
The one year is the charge deadline, not the lawsuit deadline, and Rhode Island builds the court clock differently from most states. Section 28-5-24.1(a) governs the route to superior court and sets its own periods measured from the date the charge was filed. A reader who learns the one year figure and stops there has learned one of four numbers that will govern the case. The other three are 120 days, two years, and ninety days, and all of them run off the charge rather than off the harassment.
The right to sue request has a floor and
The right to sue request has a floor and a ceiling. Section 28-5-24.1(a) allows a complainant to ask for a right to sue in state court if not less than one hundred and twenty days and not more than two years have elapsed from the date of filing of a charge. Four months must pass before you can ask, and after two years you can no longer ask at all. The ceiling is the dangerous half, because the commission controls its own pace and a complainant who simply waits for news can fall outside the window.
There are three conditions on top of the timing
There are three conditions on top of the timing, and one of them can close the door early. Section 28-5-24.1(a) allows the request only if the commission has been unable to secure a settlement agreement or conciliation agreement and if the commission has not commenced hearing on a complaint. Once a commission hearing begins, that route is gone. When the request is properly made the commission shall grant the right to sue within thirty days after receipt of it, and the grant then starts a ninety day period to file in superior court.
Suggested Compliance Checklist
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-6(8): Domestic and Close Family Employees Are Excluded
See your deadline days after startingThe term employee does not include any individual employed by their parents, spouse, or child, or in the domestic service of any person. Section 28-5-6(9)(ii) separately exempts religious bodies as to employment of individuals of their religion.
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-7(1)(v): Get the Written Disposition of Your Internal Complaint
See your deadline days after startingRefusing to disclose in a timely manner in writing the disposition of an internal harassment complaint, including a description of any action taken, is itself an unlawful employment practice. Request it in writing and keep the request.
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-7(1)(vi): A Required Confidentiality Clause Is Void
See your deadline days after startingAn employer may not require, as a condition of employment, a nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreement keeping alleged civil rights violations confidential, and any contract provision doing so is void as a violation of public policy.
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-51-1(a): The Written Policy Duty Starts at Fifty Employees
See your deadline days after startingEmployer in the sexual harassment policy chapter means any entity employing fifty or more employees, so the every employer shall language in Section 28-51-2(b) reaches only those employers. Training under Sections 28-51-2(c) and 28-51-3 is encouraged, not required.
| Task | Description | Document | Days after starting |
|---|---|---|---|
| R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-6(8): Domestic and Close Family Employees Are Excluded | The term employee does not include any individual employed by their parents, spouse, or child, or in the domestic service of any person. Section 28-5-6(9)(ii) separately exempts religious bodies as to employment of individuals of their religion. | - | See your deadline |
| R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-7(1)(v): Get the Written Disposition of Your Internal Complaint | Refusing to disclose in a timely manner in writing the disposition of an internal harassment complaint, including a description of any action taken, is itself an unlawful employment practice. Request it in writing and keep the request. | - | See your deadline |
| R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-5-7(1)(vi): A Required Confidentiality Clause Is Void | An employer may not require, as a condition of employment, a nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreement keeping alleged civil rights violations confidential, and any contract provision doing so is void as a violation of public policy. | - | See your deadline |
| R.I. Gen. Laws Section 28-51-1(a): The Written Policy Duty Starts at Fifty Employees | Employer in the sexual harassment policy chapter means any entity employing fifty or more employees, so the every employer shall language in Section 28-51-2(b) reaches only those employers. Training under Sections 28-51-2(c) and 28-51-3 is encouraged, not required. | - | See your deadline |
Frequently Asked Questions
Ninety days. Section 28-5-24.1(a) requires the commission to grant the right to sue within thirty days after receipt of the request, and the grant terminates all commission proceedings and starts a ninety day period to file in superior court. That is four numbers in one case: one year to file the charge, at least 120 days and no more than two years before requesting the right to sue, thirty days for the commission to grant it, and ninety days to get to court. Three of those four are not the deadline most people think to look up.
Yes, after a probable cause finding. Section 28-5-24.1(c)(1) provides that the complainant or the respondent may elect within twenty days after receipt of a finding of probable cause to terminate by written notice to the commission all proceedings before the commission and have the case heard in the superior court. The choice is not the worker's alone. Section 28-5-24.1(c)(2) provides that either party may claim a trial by jury in the superior court, and the parties may still agree to have the commission seek to conciliate or mediate a settlement within the ninety day period.
Rhode Island reaches much smaller employers. Section 28-5-6(9)(i) defines employer to include the state and all political subdivisions and any person in this state employing four or more individuals, and any person acting in the interest of an employer directly or indirectly. Federal Title VII needs fifteen, so a worker at a six person Rhode Island employer has a full state claim and no federal one. Two exclusions to check: Section 28-5-6(8) removes from employee any individual employed by their parents, spouse, or child, or in the domestic service of any person, and Section 28-5-6(9)(ii) exempts a religious body as to the employment of individuals of its religion to perform work connected with its activities.
Yes, in writing, and refusing is itself unlawful. Section 28-5-7(1)(v) makes it an unlawful employment practice, where an employee has presented an internal complaint alleging harassment in the workplace on the basis of race or color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or country of ancestral origin, for the employer to refuse to disclose in a timely manner in writing to that employee the disposition of the complaint, including a description of any action taken in resolution of the complaint. The employer owes you the outcome and what was done, not the investigation file, since the provision adds that no other personnel information shall be disclosed to the complainant.
Not as a condition of employment. Section 28-5-7(1)(vi) makes it an unlawful employment practice to require an employee, as a condition of employment, to execute a nondisclosure agreement that requires alleged violations of civil rights to remain confidential, or a non-disparagement agreement concerning alleged violations of civil rights or alleged unlawful conduct, or any agreement with a clause requiring alleged civil rights violations to remain confidential. The same subsection provides that any contract provision in violation of it is void as a violation of public policy. Section 28-5-6(15) supplies the definition of a non-disparagement agreement.
Only if it has fifty or more employees, despite how the section reads. Section 28-51-2(b) says every employer shall adopt a policy against sexual harassment and provide all employees a written copy, with a new employee given a copy at the time of employment, but Section 28-51-1(a) defines employer for that chapter as any entity employing fifty or more employees. The required policy must state that sexual harassment is unlawful and that retaliation is unlawful, give a description and examples of sexual harassment, state the range of consequences, describe the internal complaint process with the work addresses and telephone numbers for complaints, and identify the state and federal enforcement agencies and how to contact them. Training is only encouraged, not required, under Sections 28-51-2(c) and 28-51-3.
Section 28-5-7(1) reaches conduct because of race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin. Sexual orientation and gender identity or expression are in the statutory list itself rather than in a regulation. Section 28-5-6(18) defines race to include traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles, which Section 28-5-6(17) describes as including locks, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots and Afros. Section 28-5-6(2) includes pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions within because of sex, and Section 28-5-6(1) defines age as at least forty years of age.
Other Rhode Island guides
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