No. You can start the process yourself online, by mail, or in person, and nothing requires a lawyer. Know one thing first: submitting an online inquiry through the EEOC portal does not necessarily mean a charge has been filed. What a lawyer changes is what goes into the charge, because a charge is a prerequisite to most discrimination lawsuits and shapes what you can later bring to court.
In this guide
You can start it yourself, three ways
Online, the EEOC asks you as a first step to use the public portal to submit an inquiry about the issue you want to discuss. You are then asked to schedule an interview by telephone, by video, or in person at one of its offices.
In person, EEOC offices are open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
By mail, you send a letter that includes your name, address, email and telephone number, along with your signature and the details of what happened.
None of these routes ask whether you have counsel. Federal employees and applicants for federal jobs use a different process entirely, so if that is you, the steps on this page do not apply.
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An online inquiry is not the same as a filed charge
This catches people out, and it can cost a claim. The portal submission the EEOC asks you to make first is an inquiry. The EEOC describes it as a first step, after which you are asked to schedule an interview. Submitting the online inquiry does not necessarily mean a charge has been filed.
So do not treat the confirmation screen or the confirmation email as proof that you filed on time. Until a charge exists, the clock is still running against you.
If your deadline is close, do not sit in the scheduling queue. The EEOC's own instruction is that if your filing deadline is fast approaching you should call 1-800-669-4000 and ask for an immediate interview. Say the deadline date out loud in the first sentence of the call.
Whatever route you take, ask plainly whether a charge has been filed, on what date, and get the charge number. Keep the answer in writing. If you cannot get that confirmation, assume nothing has been filed yet and keep pushing.
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Why the charge is not just paperwork
The EEOC puts it plainly: "The laws enforced by EEOC, except for the Equal Pay Act, require you to file a charge before you can file a lawsuit for unlawful discrimination."
So the charge is the gate. It is also the frame. Investigators work from what the charge alleges, the employer's written response answers what the charge alleges, and courts look at whether a later lawsuit fits within what was raised.
That is where self-filed charges most often go wrong. Not by being false, but by being narrow. A worker files about the termination and leaves out the six months of harassment that preceded it, or files about harassment and never mentions the pay cut. Adding the missing piece later is harder than including it at the start.
The other common problem is the date. Everything in the process runs off deadlines, and a charge filed one day late is generally not fixable.
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What a lawyer actually does at this stage
Works out which clocks are running. Federal, state, and in some places a city agency, all with different lengths, and often a separate lawsuit deadline on top.
Decides where to file. In one of our five states the answer may be to skip the agency and sue, and in another the order of filings can foreclose a route.
Drafts the charge to cover every ground you actually have, not just the loudest one.
Tells you what to preserve now, while you still have access to it, and what not to do on company systems.
Reads the severance agreement before you sign it, if one has been put in front of you.
None of that requires you to hire anyone. Most plaintiff-side employment firms, including this one, do the first conversation for free.
What it costs, and what to ask
Plaintiff-side employment cases are typically handled on a contingency fee, meaning the lawyer's fee comes out of any recovery rather than being paid up front. Ask any firm you speak with to state the fee percentage, who pays case costs if there is no recovery, and whether the fee changes if the case is filed in court.
Ask two more things. First, what is my deadline, and what is the date. Second, what do you need from me in the next week. A firm that cannot answer the first question quickly has not looked at your case yet.
We cannot promise an outcome, and no lawyer honestly can. What a consultation can tell you is whether there is a claim, which deadline governs it, and what has to happen next.
Questions, answered.
Will the EEOC give me a lawyer?
No. The EEOC is a neutral enforcement agency, not your representative. It investigates the charge and in a small number of cases sues on its own behalf. If you want someone whose job is your interests, that is a private lawyer.
Is it bad for my case if I file the charge myself first?
Not automatically, and a timely self-filed charge beats a late one every time. The risk is leaving out a ground you actually have. If you have already filed, bring a copy of the charge to your consultation.
I only have a few weeks left on my deadline. Should I still call?
Yes, and say the deadline in the first sentence. Short timelines get triaged. Do the same with the EEOC. Its filing instructions say that if your filing deadline is fast approaching, contact 1-800-669-4000 to ask for an immediate interview rather than waiting for a portal appointment. The EEOC also says walk-ins are seen first come, first served, with those having imminent filing deadlines seen first. What causes real problems is calling with days left, because there may not be time to evaluate the case properly.
I submitted the online form weeks ago. Is my charge filed?
Not necessarily. The portal submission is an inquiry, and the EEOC schedules an interview after it. Ask the EEOC directly whether a charge has been filed and on what date, and get the charge number. If your deadline is near, call and ask for an immediate interview rather than waiting for a scheduled one.