What is a right-to-sue letter and what do I do with it?

What the letter is, and what it is not

A right-to-sue notice tells you the administrative stage is over and the courthouse is open to you. That is the whole of it.

It is not an opinion that your claim is strong. Notices go out when an agency finds no violation, when it finds one and cannot settle, and when you simply ask for one so you can get on with a lawsuit. In California, the Civil Rights Department is explicit that you can skip its investigation entirely, but in employment cases "you must obtain an immediate Right-to-Sue notice from CRD before filing your own lawsuit in court."

It is also not a document to file away. The moment it arrives, the most important number in your case becomes the number of days you have left.

Sources [1]

A California notice does not cover your federal claim

This is the single most expensive misunderstanding on this page, so it gets its own section.

People know that state and federal agencies usually share filings, and they carry that assumption to the California immediate right-to-sue. It does not hold. On its own right-to-sue page, CRD tells applicants that it will not file your complaint with the EEOC, and that if you want a federal right-to-sue notice you must go to the EEOC's website or call the EEOC yourself.

The damage is silent. You hold a California notice with a full year on it, so nothing feels urgent. There is no federal charge behind it, the EEOC window keeps running, and by the time anyone looks at the federal side it has closed. Nobody writes to tell you that happened.

If a federal claim is part of your case, or you are not certain it is not, file with the EEOC separately and get written confirmation that a charge exists. Do that before you request the California notice, not after.

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The federal clock: 90 days, no extensions in the ordinary case

The EEOC's instruction is one sentence: "Once you receive a Notice of Right to Sue, you must file your lawsuit within 90 days."

Ninety calendar days is roughly thirteen weeks. It does not pause while you find a lawyer, gather documents, or wait for the employer to respond to a settlement letter.

Two federal claims work differently. Under the ADEA you do not need a notice at all and may sue any time after 60 days from filing your charge, though no later than 90 days after notice that the investigation concluded. Under the Equal Pay Act you can go straight to court within two years of the discriminatory paycheck, or three years if the violation was willful, without filing a charge first.

Sources [3]

The state clocks are not the federal clock

California is the most generous. The notice must state that you may bring a civil action "within one year from the date of that notice." The statute also lists tolling situations, including a timely internal appeal of the department's closure of your complaint.

Texas is the shortest of the four. "Within 60 days after the date a notice of the right to file a civil action is received, the complainant may bring a civil action." Texas layers a second limit on top: no civil action may be brought later than the second anniversary of the date the complaint was filed. Both have to be satisfied.

Nevada gives 90 days. The right-to-sue notice "must indicate that the person may, not later than 90 days after the date of receipt of the right-to-sue notice, bring a civil action in district court." Nevada's limitations statute frames the same rule as 180 days from the act or 90 days from the notice, whichever is later, and tolls the period while a complaint is pending before the state commission or the EEOC.

Washington does not put a notice in this position at all. The statute gives any person injured by a violation a civil action in court, so there is no agency letter to wait for and none to receive.

Colorado gives 90 days, matching the federal clock: after a CCRD right-to-sue notice, a CADA civil action generally must be filed within 90 days. Colorado is also an exhaustion state, so the notice is not optional paperwork; it is the gate to court for the state claim.

Sources [4] · [5] · [6] · [7] · [8]

How to ask for one, and when not to

Agencies issue notices on request as well as on their own. Nevada's commission must issue one on request once at least 180 days have passed since the complaint was filed. Texas entitles a complainant who has received notice that the complaint was not dismissed or resolved to request a written notice of the right to file a civil action, in writing. California issues one on request when it has decided not to bring its own action.

Requesting early has a cost. You give up the agency investigation, which is free and which sometimes produces documents you would otherwise have to litigate for. Requesting early makes sense when you already intend to sue and have counsel. It makes much less sense when you are still deciding.

One firm rule either way: do not request a notice you are not ready to act on. The clock starts on its own schedule, not when you feel prepared.

Which schedule depends on the jurisdiction, and the difference is not academic. Federally, the EEOC frames the 90 days as running once you receive the notice. Texas measures its 60 days from the date the notice "is received." Nevada measures its 90 days from the date of receipt of the right-to-sue notice. California is the outlier: the statute gives one year "from the date of that notice," so a California clock can already be several days old by the time the envelope reaches you.

Practical handling: for the receipt-based deadlines, keep the envelope and note the delivery date, because receipt is the kind of fact that gets argued about. For California, work from the date printed on the notice and do not add mailing time to it.

Sources [6] · [5] · [3] · [9] · [4]