What happens when a rejected candidate files an EEOC charge

When a rejected candidate files a charge of discrimination, the EEOC notifies the employer within 10 days through its Respondent Portal. The employer is usually offered voluntary mediation; if that fails or is declined, it is asked for a position statement and documents, and an investigator decides whether there is reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred. Either way the candidate can end up with a notice of right to sue, which gives them 90 days to file in federal court. From the day the charge is filed, the employer must preserve every record relevant to it, including the files of the other candidates for the same job. These steps are current as of October 2026.

A charge is an accusation, not a finding. The EEOC itself says "a charge does not constitute a finding that you engaged in discrimination." What decides most hiring charges is whether the employer can show, from records made at the time, the job-related reason it chose someone else.

The charge process at a glance

Can a candidate who was never hired file a charge?

Yes. Title VII makes it unlawful to "fail or refuse to hire" because of race, color, religion, sex or national origin (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)), and the ADEA and ADA protect applicants in the same way. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees and to employment agencies, including staffing agencies; the ADEA applies at 20 employees. Agency recruiters should expect that both the agency and its client can be named in the same charge: the EEOC says employers "can be liable for the actions of their agents (including recruiters and staffing agencies)" (EEOC technical assistance, 2025).

The filing window is 180 calendar days from the decision, "extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis." For age charges, the extension applies only where there is a state age law and a state agency enforcing it, not where only a local law exists (EEOC; 29 U.S.C. 626(d)). That is why a rejected candidate's file can matter almost a year after the role was filled.

What should you do in the first week?

1. Log into the portal and read the charge. Note the basis (race, sex, age, disability, retaliation), the role, the date of the decision and the deadlines the EEOC has set.
2. Issue a written hold. Tell everyone involved in the hire to keep everything about the role and every candidate for it, and switch off automatic deletion in the ATS, email, chat and any recording or note-taking tool.
3. Bring in counsel. If you carry employment practices liability insurance, check whether the policy requires notice of a charge.
4. Do not contact the candidate about the charge. Title VII makes it unlawful to discriminate against "applicants for employment" because they have "made a charge" (42 U.S.C. 2000e-3(a)), and a rejected candidate who applies again is protected from retaliation like anyone else.
5. Decide on mediation early. The EEOC will say whether the charge is eligible at the start of the investigation.

Which hiring records should you preserve?

The EEOC's preservation rule is broader than most people expect. Where a Title VII, ADA or GINA charge has been filed, the employer "shall preserve all personnel records relevant to the charge or action until final disposition," and the rule gives hiring as its example: "application forms or test papers completed by an unsuccessful applicant and by all other candidates for the same position" (29 CFR 1602.14). The ADEA has its own version (29 CFR 1627.3(b)(3)). Final disposition runs until the 90-day suit window closes or any lawsuit ends.

For a typical hiring charge, pull and preserve:

• the requisition, job description and the job ad as posted;
• applicant flow for the role: everyone who applied, how far each got and why they stopped;
• the charging party's application, résumé, screening answers and any assessment results;
• the same for every other candidate for that position, especially the person hired;
• interview guides, scorecards, interview notes, recordings and transcripts for each interview;
• emails, chat messages and ATS comments about the candidates or the decision;
• who decided, when, and the criteria they applied; the offer to the selected candidate;
• for agency placements, the client's job order and the submittals sent.

A gap in this set hurts more than a weak note does. Deleting interview notes or recordings after a charge arrives breaks that rule. If notes or transcripts live on recruiters' own computers, as they do with desktop tools such as Interview Signal, the hold has to reach those laptops, not only the ATS. Our guides on how long to keep interview notes and candidate data retention policies cover what to keep before a charge exists; what not to write in interview notes covers what those notes should look like.

Should you agree to mediation?

EEOC mediation is "informal and confidential," the mediator "does not decide who is right or wrong," and either side can decline. The EEOC says it "takes less than 3 months on average to resolve a charge through mediation," against "10 months or longer" for an investigation (EEOC mediation). The trade-off is that a settlement typically involves a payment or a commitment, while an investigation may end in a dismissal. Counsel will weigh how strong the hiring record is; that is one more reason to gather it first.

How do you write the position statement?

The EEOC asks for "specific, factual responses to every allegation of the charge" and says "a position statement that simply denies the allegations without providing your position or supporting information is not sufficient." It also warns that it "may also release your position statement and non-confidential attachments to Charging Parties and their representatives" (Effective position statements). Sensitive medical or confidential business information goes in separately labeled attachments.

For a hiring decision, a statement usually covers:

• the role and the job-related criteria, set before interviews began;
• the process: who screened, who interviewed, the questions and how answers were scored;
• how the charging party and the selected candidate measured against the criteria, with the scorecards and notes;
• who made the decision and whether they knew of the protected characteristic alleged;
• other candidates who share the charging party's characteristic and were hired or advanced, where true and relevant.

Consistency is what an investigator tests. A reason that appears only in the position statement, and not in the notes made at the time, reads as an after-the-fact explanation. Scorecards that tie each score to evidence, like the ones in our interview scorecard template, are what make the statement credible. The request for information may also ask for personnel files of other individuals, an on-site visit, or witness interviews; the EEOC "is entitled to all information relevant to the allegations" and can subpoena it.

How does a charge end?

• No reasonable cause. The candidate receives a Dismissal and Notice of Rights and may sue in federal court within 90 days of receiving it; the employer gets a copy. This is not a finding that the employer complied with the law.
• Reasonable cause. Both sides receive a letter of determination and an invitation to conciliation. If conciliation fails, the EEOC can sue or issue a notice of right to sue.
• Early right to sue. A charging party may ask for a notice of right to sue; after 180 days the EEOC "shall promptly issue" it, and it may do so earlier in some cases (29 CFR 1601.28). Expect this when the candidate has a lawyer.
• Settlement. At any point, through mediation or directly.

One 2025 change affects charges built only on statistics. Executive Order 14281 directs federal agencies to "deprioritize enforcement of all statutes and regulations to the extent they include disparate-impact liability," naming Title VII (90 FR 17537). It does not change the statute, so a candidate with a right-to-sue notice can still bring a disparate impact claim in court; see the four-fifths rule for how adverse impact is measured.

A response checklist

• Charge read in the Respondent Portal; deadlines on the calendar.
• Written hold sent to every interviewer, recruiter, coordinator and agency involved; auto-deletion paused.
• Counsel engaged; insurer notified if required.
• Records gathered for the charging party and every other candidate for the same position.
• No contact with the candidate about the charge; no change in how any new application from them is handled.
• Mediation decision made.
• Position statement built from the records made at the time, with confidential material in labeled attachments.
• Records kept until the 90-day window closes or any suit ends.