How to Report Harassment or Discrimination to Your Employer in New York

To report harassment or discrimination at work in New York, tell a supervisor, a manager or the person your employer's policy names, and say plainly that the problem is treatment tied to a protected characteristic such as sex, race, age or disability. New York State's model sexual harassment prevention policy encourages reports to a supervisor, a manager or the person or office the employer designates, and it treats a verbal complaint or an email with the same priority as the written complaint form.⁠^[1][2] What the complaint says matters as much as who receives it: under federal case law, a complaint is protected against retaliation only if the employer understood, or could reasonably have understood, that it was directed at conduct Title VII prohibits.⁠^[3]

If the conduct involved unwanted physical touching, coerced physical confinement or coerced sex acts, the State model policy says it may be a crime and encourages people who wish to pursue criminal charges to contact their local police department.⁠^[6] The NYS Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline is 800-942-6906 (text 844-997-2121), and the State says conversations are confidential and available 24/7.⁠^[7]

Who do you report to?

Start with your employer's own policy. Under New York State Labor Law § 201-g, every employer must adopt the State's model sexual harassment prevention policy or its own policy that equals or exceeds the model's minimum standards, and must give it to all employees in writing.⁠^[8] The statute has no minimum number of employees.⁠^[9] That policy must include a standard complaint form and a procedure for the timely and confidential investigation of complaints.⁠^[10] State law also has every employer hand the policy to each employee at hiring and again at every annual training.⁠^[11]

The model policy names three places a report can go: a supervisor, a manager, or the person or office the employer designates.⁠^[1] It also puts a duty on the people who receive reports. Under the model policy, supervisors and managers who receive a complaint or suspect harassment must report it to the designated person, and they can be disciplined for failing to report or for allowing harassment to continue.⁠^[12] The guide to the State model policy walks through the full document.

Some situations need more thought about who receives the complaint:

• The harasser is your own supervisor. In a federal case, the Second Circuit held that an employer does not automatically win its defense just because its policy listed other people the employee could have complained to, and that an employee need not exhaust every avenue where circumstances warrant the belief that some of them would be ineffective or antagonistic.⁠^[13]
• The harasser is a customer or client. New York State's guidance says third-party harassment is covered by the State Human Rights Law, that an employee can report it to a manager, and that a manager who witnesses it is obligated to accommodate the employee, including by reassigning the employee away from the customer or asking the customer to leave.⁠^[14] See harassment by customers, clients and vendors.
• Your employer has no policy. The State says an employee whose employer has not provided a policy or annual training can file a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor.⁠^[15]

In New York City, who hears the complaint also bears on what the employer is treated as knowing. Under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), an employer is deemed to know about an employee's discriminatory conduct when a manager or supervisor knew about it.⁠^[16]

The State policy statute speaks of a sexual harassment prevention policy.⁠^[8] For discrimination on other grounds, an employee handbook or equal employment policy usually names a reporting channel; where it does not, the same people (a supervisor, a manager, human resources) are the practical place to start.

What does the complaint need to say to be protected?

All three layers of law protect a person who opposes discrimination, and each has its own text.

Layer	What is protected
Federal (Title VII)	An employer may not discriminate against an employee or applicant because the person opposed a practice Title VII makes unlawful, or made a charge, testified, assisted or participated in a Title VII investigation, proceeding or hearing.⁠[17]
New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)	No person covered by the law may retaliate against anyone because the person opposed a practice the law forbids, filed a complaint, testified or assisted in a proceeding, or requested a reasonable accommodation.⁠[18]
NYCHRL (New York City)	No covered person may retaliate or discriminate "in any manner" against anyone because the person opposed a forbidden practice, filed a complaint, testified or assisted in a proceeding, or requested a reasonable accommodation, among other listed acts.⁠[19]

Under federal law, opposition does not have to be formal: the Second Circuit has said the opposition clause protects informal protests, including complaints to management.⁠^[20]

The catch is content. Under federal law, the employer must have understood, or reasonably could have understood, that the complaint was directed at conduct Title VII prohibits.⁠^[3] A complaint that a boss is harsh, plays favorites or is making someone miserable, with nothing linking the treatment to a protected characteristic, may not meet that test. Under the NYCHRL the Court of Appeals reads "opposed" broadly: a supervisor opposed discrimination when, without using that word, she made clear to her superior that she thought his treatment of a subordinate was wrong.⁠^[21] The page on what counts as protected activity goes through the cases, and unfair versus illegal treatment explains the link to a protected characteristic.

The complaint does not have to be legally correct. Under federal law, an employee can prevail on retaliation even when the conduct complained of was not in fact unlawful, so long as the employee had a good-faith, reasonable belief that it was.⁠^[22] The EEOC's position is that telling the employer about alleged or potential harassment is reasonable opposition even if the conduct has not yet reached the federal "severe or pervasive" level.⁠^[23] The State model policy likewise says a person with a good-faith belief is protected even if the conduct turns out not to violate the law, and that intentionally false charges are not protected.⁠^[24]

Practical wording

These are practical suggestions, not legal rules:

• Describe what happened, who did it, when and where, and who else saw or heard it.
• Say what you believe the treatment is based on (for example, "because I am pregnant" or "because of my race"), or that you are reporting sexual harassment.
• Use the word "discrimination," "harassment" or "retaliation" if that is what you mean.
• Say what you are asking for, such as for the conduct to stop.
• Stick to facts you know and label anything you only heard from others.

Should the complaint be in writing?

The State model policy does not make writing a condition. It accepts verbal complaints, and if a complaint is verbal the designated person asks for the form in writing or prepares the documentation based on the verbal report.⁠^[2][25]

As a practical matter, a written complaint is easier to point to later. An email or a completed form shows the date, the recipient and the exact words used. If you report in person or by phone, a short follow-up email summarizing the conversation serves the same purpose. Keep your own copy. The guide to building a record covers notes and messages, and employer monitoring of email explains why a work account is not private.

Do you have to report internally before going to an agency or court?

The State model policy says a person who prefers not to report to a manager or the employer may instead report to the New York State Division of Human Rights or the EEOC, and that complaints may be made to both the employer and an agency.⁠^[26] Whether staying silent internally affects a later claim differs by layer:

• Federal law. When a supervisor's harassment did not result in a tangible employment action, the employer can avoid liability or reduce damages by proving that it exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct harassment and that the employee unreasonably failed to use the preventive or corrective opportunities it provided.⁠^[27] An unreasonable failure to use the employer's complaint procedure will normally be enough for the second part.⁠^[28] The defense is not available when the harassment ended in a tangible employment action such as discharge or demotion.⁠^[29]
• New York State law. Under the NYSHRL, the fact that the person did not complain to the employer is not determinative of whether the employer is liable.⁠^[5]
• New York City law. The Court of Appeals held in 2010 that the federal defense does not apply to sexual harassment and retaliation claims under the NYCHRL.⁠^[30]

Do I have to report harassment to HR first? covers this question in depth.

Reporting internally does not stop the clock

An internal complaint and a legal filing are different things with different calendars. The State model policy warns that complaining internally does not extend the time to file with the Division of Human Rights or in court.⁠^[4] The EEOC says the same about federal charges: its time limits generally are not extended while a person tries an internal grievance procedure.⁠^[31]

• Federal: the EEOC's New York District Office gives 300 days from the alleged harm to file a charge against an employer with 15 or more employees.⁠^[32]
• New York State: a complaint to the Division of Human Rights is due within three years after the alleged practice, for claims arising on or after February 15, 2024.⁠^[33][34]
• New York City: a complaint to the NYC Commission on Human Rights is due within one year, or within three years for a claim of gender-based harassment.⁠^[35][36]

The full table is in New York employment claim deadlines.

What happens after you report?

Under the State model policy, an investigation happens whenever management receives a complaint or otherwise knows of possible discrimination or sexual harassment.⁠^[37] The steps are described in what happens in an HR investigation, and the limits on secrecy in is what I tell HR confidential?

Protection has limits on the employee's side too. The EEOC's view of federal law is that opposition is protected only when its manner is reasonable, and that opposing discrimination is not a license to neglect job duties.⁠^[23] If treatment gets worse after a complaint, see what workplace retaliation is.

For questions about reporting sexual harassment, the State's FAQ tells workers they can call the Division of Human Rights at 844-NYS-DHR1 (844-697-3471) for information about how to report and for a referral to a volunteer attorney who can give limited free assistance by phone.⁠^[38] The State model policy (2023 version) still prints an older hotline name, 1 (800) HARASS3, for the same service.⁠^[4]