## ***OCR CORRESPONDENCE  NOTIFICATION***

The majority of OCR staff are working remotely because of the pandemic.  Therefore, to ensure receipt of your correspondence, please consider emailing **(OCR@ed.gov)** or faxing (202-453-6012) it  to our office, where it will receive immediate attention.  If neither of  these options are available to you, mail your correspondence to the address below, and we will  process it as soon as conditions allow. You may also contact us at 800-421-3481  or **OCR@ed.gov** to confirm receipt of your  correspondence.

**U.S. Department of Education                        Office for Civil Rights                        Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg                        400 Maryland Avenue, SW                      Washington, DC 20202-1100**

Filing a Complaint

**Overview**	  This page provides specific and detailed information that will assist you  in filing a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department  of Education. Please read all of the information below before continuing on to  the complaint form. Additional information is available at How OCR Handles  Complaints and Questions and  Answers on OCR's Complaint Process.

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**OCR has the  authority to investigate complaints claiming a covered entity discriminated  based on:**
              - race, color, national origin, ethnicity, or ancestry, including  a person’s- limited English proficiency or English learner status; and  
- actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic  characteristics, including membership in a religion that may be perceived to  exhibit such characteristics (such as Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh individuals)

              - sex or gender, including - pregnancy or parental status; 
- sex stereotypes (such as treating persons differently because  they do not conform to sex-role expectations or because they are attracted to  or are in relationships with persons of the same sex); and  
- gender identity or transgender status;

              - disability, including those currently without an impairment  that substantially limits a major life activity, but who have a record of or  are regarded as having a disability; and
              - age.

**OCR also  has the authority to investigate complaints claiming a covered entity:**
              - retaliated for the purpose of interfering with any right or  privilege protected by the laws enforced by OCR;
              - retaliated because someone made a complaint, testified, assisted,  or participated in any manner in an OCR matter; and
              - discriminated against any youth group officially affiliated  with a group or organization listed  in title 36 of the United States Code (as a patriotic society) that is  intended to serve young people under the age of 21 that requests to conduct a meeting  at a public school.

**Covered  entities** include all public and private  programs that receive Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education.  These include all public schools and most public and private colleges, as well  as some other entities, such as vocational rehabilitation agencies and  libraries.  For claims of disability  discrimination (including disability-related retaliation), covered entities  also include all state and local government entities, even if they do not  receive Federal funds.

If you believe you have been discriminated or retaliated  against on any of these bases by a covered entity, you may file a complaint  using either the electronic complaint form or the fillable PDF complaint form  linked at the bottom of this page.

If you choose to file a complaint using either method, you will  be asked to provide your name, address, and email address; the name and address  of the person discriminated against; and the name and address of the entity you  believe discriminated.

You also will be asked which of the kinds of discrimination  forms the basis for your complaint. You will need to provide a description of  the conduct that you believe is discriminatory.

By law, complaints of discrimination must ordinarily be filed  within 180 days of the last act of discrimination. If your complaint involves  matters that occurred longer ago than this and you are requesting a waiver, you  will be asked to show good cause why you did not file your complaint within the  180-day period.

You will be asked whether you have tried to resolve the matter  using a grievance procedure or by filing with another agency.

In addition to the complaint, a signed **Consent Form** may be required. When disclosure of the identity of  the complainant is necessary in order to resolve the complaint, OCR will  require written consent before proceeding. The complainant will be informed  that the complaint will be closed if written consent is necessary in order to  resolve the complaint and is not received within 20 calendar days of the date  of the acknowledgement letter or the date the Consent Form is requested from  the complainant. The signed Consent Form may be submitted to OCR by mail, fax, email  (with a scanned attachment), or in person. 

When OCR has determined that consent is necessary in order to  resolve the complaint and OCR has not received a signed Consent Form by the  15th calendar day of the date of the acknowledgment letter or the date the  Consent Form is requested from the complainant, OCR will contact the  complainant (e.g., by phone) to inform the complainant that the complaint will  be closed if the signed Consent Form is not received within 5 calendar days. If  OCR does not receive signed written Consent Form, the complaint will be  dismissed, and the complainant informed in writing.

A complainant on behalf of or regarding to another person(s) is  responsible for securing any necessary written consent from that individual,  including when a parent files for a student over the age of 18. Where the  person is a minor (under the age of 18) or a legally incompetent adult, the  Consent Form must be signed by that person’s parent or legal guardian. Parental  or legal guardian consent may not be required for persons under the age of 18  if they are emancipated under state law and are therefore considered to have  obtained majority. Proof of emancipation or incompetence must be provided.

If you submit the completed electronic complaint form, it will  be routed to the OCR office with authority to handle complaints in the state  where the institution or entity you are complaining about is located. A staff  person will contact you once your electronic complaint has been received and  reviewed.

If you select the fillable PDF complaint form, once you complete  the complaint form and Consent Form, you should print them out, sign them; and mail  them (or email scanned copies of the signed forms) to the Enforcement Office  with authority for the state where the institution or entity you are  complaining about is located. A staff person will contact you once your  complaint has been received and reviewed.

You may now continue to either the electronic complaint form or  the fillable PDF complaint form, or you may abandon the form and return to the  OCR Complaint Process page.

**Continue to Electronic Complaint Form** or  Fillable PDF Complaint Form PDF (400.9K) 

 

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