How to file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
What is an OCR Complaint?
The Office for Civil Rights works to make sure that all students have equal access to education. That means that all students have the right to learn free from discrimination based on race, nationality, gender, disability and whether or not they speak English. Schools, colleges, and universities that receive money from the U.S. Department of Education cannot discriminate against students for any of these reasons. If they do, families, students, teachers, and witnesses can tell the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) by filing a complaint. The OCR will investigate those complaints and enforce any civil rights laws that have been broken.
The OCR enforces federal civil rights laws and implements regulations to stop discrimination that happens in schools, colleges, or other agencies that receive federal financial assistance.
The OCR has regional offices throughout the country. The regional office for Colorado is in Denver. Everyone must file their complaints with their regional office. Then, the OCR will review the complaint and start an investigation if necessary. After the investigation, the OCR will resolve the issue. This can end with the school, district, college, or university agreeing to change what they were doing wrong and giving the OCR proof that the changes were made and were successful.
Anyone can file a complaint. You don’t have to be the victim of the discrimination. You can file a complaint on behalf of other people or groups if you have their permission or the permission of their parents if you want to file the complaint on behalf of children (under the age of 18).
Usually you must file a complaint 6 months (or 180 days) after the most recent time that the discrimination occurred. If the discrimination happened longer ago than 6 months, you can request a waiver for this requirement although you will need to show a good reason why you did not file the complaint earlier.
It is illegal for the school or its employees to retaliate against you for filing a complaint, testifying about a complaint, or helping in an OCR investigation. If they do, then you can file another OCR complaint. Retaliation can take many forms, and it is all illegal. It can be intimidating, threatening, coercing, or discrimination against you. It can be giving students failing grades, not allowing them to participate in school activities, or threatening them with expulsion. All of it is illegal and the OCR can open another investigation if it happens to you.
What are my rights?
Every student has a right to learn in a safe environment free from unlawful discrimination. It is illegal to discriminate against anyone based on their:
- race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, or English proficiency, whether real or perceived. This includes unequal access to educational resources. Educational resources can be classes, extracurricular opportunities, participating in Talented and Gifted or Advanced Placement programs, qualified teachers and staff, quality school buildings, and learning technology like labs, computers, and libraries.
- sex, including discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender stereotypes, gender identity, transgender status, being pregnant, or being a parent.
- disability status.
- age (if they are 40 or older).
All agencies run by the government must protect your rights. These include educational agencies, public school systems, colleges and universities, vocational schools, rehabilitation agencies, libraries, and museums. They all must provide services in a nondiscriminatory way, and they all must provide services in an environment free from discrimination that limits students’ educational opportunities. Services like admissions, recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, counseling and guidance, discipline, classroom assignment, grading, recreation, physical education, sports, housing, and more all must be provided without discrimination.
Schools and districts must allow students who are learning English, Emergent Bilingual Students (EB) to participate meaningfully and equally in school. Districts must
- Identify EB students in a timely, valid, and reliable manner that tests their speaking, listening, reading and writing.
- Give EB students language assistance so they can learn English and participate equally in the school learning. Although the OCR does not require any specific language programming model, language assistance services must be provided until EB students can participate meaningfully in regular programs.
- Provide qualified staff and enough resources to teach EB students.
- Make sure that EB students can participate equally in school programs, activities, and services like preschool, Talented and Gifted, Advanced Placement, and sports.
- Avoid unnecessarily separating EB students from other students.
- Evaluate EB students for special education using the appropriate language based on the student’s language skills. If an EB student also needs special education, both language assistance AND special education services must be provided.
- Monitor the progress of EB students toward learning English through annual testing of their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.
- Monitor the progress of EB students toward learning grade-level content knowledge.
- Move EB students out of language assistance programs when they have learned English speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Districts must also monitor students for 2 years after they have been moved out to make sure they can participate in class the same as students who are not EBs.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of EB programs over time to make sure EB students have similar academic performance as non-EB students. Districts must modify EB programs when needed
The right to receive information from the school in your preferred language
Districts must have a process for identifying the preferred languages of parents and guardians. It does not matter whether they speak common languages or uncommon languages. Schools and districts must then provide important information about the school in the language that parents understand. This includes information about registration and enrollment, language assistance options, report cards, discipline policies, special education services, parent-teacher conferences, procedures for making a complaint, parent handbooks, Talented and Gifted programs, magnet and charter schools, and parent permission for students to participate in school activities. Even if your child speaks English and you speak some English, you can still request that the school give you information in the language you understand.
The right to translators and interpreters
Schools cannot ask your child, other children, or untrained staff to translate and interpret for you. They must provide qualified translators and interpreters who speak both your language and English, have training as interpreters and translators, and who know the necessary vocabulary. Translation and interpretation services must be free for parents.
The right to understand EB language services
If your child is identified as an English Learner (Emergent Bilingual Student-EB), the school must notify you within 30 days of the school year starting. This notification must include information about your child’s level of English proficiency, the programs and services that the school can provide to meet your student’s needs, and your right to not participate in them.
The right to not participate in EB language services
Parents decide whether or not their children will participate in EB programs. when parents are making this decision, they should receive information about their options in the language they prefer. Schools and districts cannot recommend that parents decline language assistance services for their children. Districts must monitor the progress of EB students whether or not they receive language services.
No. All children can enroll in public schools. The immigration status of the child, parent, or guardian does not matter. Parents do not need to provide a state-issued identity document to enroll their children in school. Districts may not require information from students or their parents— such as birth certificates and Social Security numbers—that have the purpose or result of denying the students access to public schools on the basis of their or their parents’ immigration or citizenship status. Schools and districts cannot ask for information about students’ or parents’ immigration status in order to prevent them from enrolling in school.
Is filing an OCR complaint right for my situation?
Step 1: Who was subjected to discrimination?
(check all that apply and check at least one checkbox)
I am thinking about filing a complaint on behalf of:
- Me
- My minor child
- A person for whom I am the guardian
- Other individual or a group
Notes: To proceed with an investigation of an individual matter, OCR will need the signed consent of the person about whom the complaint is being filed or parent or legal guardian. At the end of the complaint filing process be sure to print out the consent form, sign it, and mail to the appropriate OCR office. “My Minor Child” applies whenever legal guardianship exists.
Step 2: What was discrimination based on?
(check all that apply and check at least one checkbox)
I am thinking about filing a complaint of discrimination based on:
- Race
- Color
- National Origin/Ethnicity/Ancestry
- Sex
- Age
- Disability
- Violation of the Boy Scout Act
- Retaliation
- None of the above
Notes: Type of Discrimination: In order to act on a complaint, OCR must have jurisdiction – or authority – over the subject matter of the complaint. OCR has authority over many, but not all, types of discrimination. For OCR to have authority, the complainant must claim that there is:
- discrimination based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity or ancestry, sex or gender, disability, or age; or
- discrimination in violation of the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2001; or
- retaliation that was intended to interfere with any right or privilege protected by the laws enforced by OCR; or
- retaliation because someone made a complaint, testified, or participated in any manner in an OCR matter.
Step 3: Type of institution?
The institution I am thinking of complaining about:
- Public school or college
- Private school or college who you believe received federal funding
- Public library
- Public vocational rehabilitation agency
- Private vocational rehabilitation organization who you believe received federal funding
- None of the above
Notes: If a complaint is filed against an institution OCR does not cover or does not state a claim under state statutes identified, OCR will not proceed further. When appropriate, OCR will refer the complaint to the appropriate federal agency. OCR has jurisdiction over institutions that receive federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. For claims of discrimination based on disability, OCR has jurisdiction over public educational institutions and public libraries, regardless of whether these institutions receive federal financial assistance. If a complaint is filed against an institution OCR does not cover, for instance Private institutions not receiving federal financial assistance, OCR will not proceed further.
Step 4: When did the last discrimination occur?
Did any act or acts that you are thinking of complaining about happen within the last six months?
- Yes
- No
Notes: Time Limits: If the same complaint allegations are currently being investigated by another agency, court or institution, OCR may dismiss the complaint allegations. Please note, you may refile within 60 days of the completion of the other entity’s action.
Step 5: Has this matter been filed somewhere else?
- Has this same matter been filed somewhere else?
- Filed by you or someone else
- Filed with another agency such as another federal agency, a state agency, a city or local agency or in state or federal court
- Filed with the institution itself using their internal grievance procedures or due process procedures
○Yes
○No
Notes: If the same complaint allegations are currently being investigated by another agency, court or institution, OCR may dismiss the complaint allegations. Please note, you may refile within 60 days of the completion of the other entity’s action.
If your case is already being addressed by another agency, the school, or the college where it happened and if the OCR thinks that the agency, school, or college will be able to resolve it in a way similar to the OCR, then the OCR will not take your case. However, once the other complaint process finishes, you can file the complaint with the OCR within 60 days. The first thing the OCR will do is determine whether or not the OCR will defer to the results of the grievance processes you completed with the agency, school, or college.
If your complaint is about discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, English learner status, sex, gender, or disability then you do not need to file an OCR complaint before filing a claim in Federal court. But if your complaint is about age discrimination then you can only file a claim in Federal court 180 days after you filed the complaint with the OCR and they had not made a finding or if the OCR issued a finding in favor of the school or district you complained about. If that happens, the OCR will notify you and will remind you of your right to file in court. If you are thinking about filing in court, remember that the OCR does not represent the people or groups that file complaints. The OCR also does not provide advice about court filings. You would need to get your own attorney. If you file a claim in court, the OCR will stop working on your OCR complaint.
Preparing to File an OCR Complaint
If you want to file a complaint with the OCR, you should begin to gather information about your case as soon as possible. write down what you can remember about what has happened. If you experienced or witnessed discrimination more than once, write down what you remember from each event. when you do, try to answer all these questions as best as you can:
- what kind of discrimination was it? was it based on race or color, national origin, English learner status, disability, sex, age, or retaliation because you filed a complaint or asserted your rights?
- when did the discrimination happen? what date or dates?
- who was the victim of the discrimination? what is their name? what is your relationship with that person? what is their contact information?
- what are the name(s) of the person or people who discriminated?
- where did the discrimination happen? what was the name and address of the school or the department?
- How did the discrimination happen? Can you describe the interaction, conversation, or policy and why you think it was discriminatory?
- Did anyone else witness the discrimination? what are their names and contact information? will they give a statement about what they saw?
- Can you get other evidence or supporting materials about what happened, like camera footage or school documents showing unequal treatment?
- Did you try to resolve the issue with a person or office in the school, district, college, or agency? If so, what was the result? Did you use an internal grievance procedure, an appeal, or something else? Did you get a fair hearing?
- Have you filed a case about the discrimination with any other Federal, state, or local civil rights agency? with a court? If so, what are the names and addresses of the places where you filed it? what date did you file it? what is the case number or reference number? what is the status of your case? what were the results?
If you are filing the complaint on behalf of someone else, you need to include a written consent form when you submit your complaint. If the person is a minor (under the age of 18), the consent form must be completed by their parent or legal guardian unless they have been emancipated under state law. In that case, you must provide proof that they have been emancipated. If you are filing a complaint on behalf of a legally incompetent adult, the consent form must be completed by their legal guardian and you must also submit proof that they are a legally incompetent adult.
Sometimes the OCR will decide that it is necessary to reveal your identity in order to resolve the complaint. If this happens, the OCR will notify you and will ask you to complete a consent form. You will have 20 days to complete it. If you don’t complete it or if you decide not to give your consent, then the OCR could close your case. Review the consent form here.
You do not need to file a complaint with the school, district, or college first. You can file the complaint directly with the OCR if you want. If you do file a complaint with the school, district, or college first, OCR will not take your case until that process has finished. After that process has finished, you have only 60 days to file a new complaint with the OCR.
Filing an OCR Complaint
There are four ways to submit your complaint.
1.You can fill it out online at https://ocrcas.ed.gov/office-for-civil-rights-discrimination-complaint-form
2.You can download the Discrimination Complaint Form, fill it out on your computer, print it, and then either mail it to the Denver regional office, fax it to 202-453-6012, or scan it and email it to OCR@ed.gov. If you do not have access to a printer, you can email OCR.Denver@ed.gov or call (303) 844-5695 to request a blank consent form.
3.You can write an email to OCR@ed.gov describing your case as long as it has all of the required information from the Discrimination Complaint Form
4.You can write a letter on any piece of paper describing your case and mail it to the Denver regional office as long as it has all of the required information from the Discrimination Complaint Form
Whether you fill out the Discrimination Complaint Form, use the online form, write an email, or write a letter, your complaint must include the following information:
1.Your name and contact information
2.The name and contact information of the person discriminated against and your relationship to them
3.The name and address of where the discrimination happened
4.The type of discrimination that happened (based on race/color, national origin, sex/gender, disability, age, or was retaliation)
5.The date of the most recent act of discrimination
6.A description of each act of discrimination, including the date or dates it occurred, the names of the people involved, what happened, what type of discrimination occurred, and the names of any witnesses
7.what solution or result you want to happen
8.If you already tried to resolve the issue by filing the complaint directly with the school, with another Federal, state, or local agency, or with a court, you should include information about that process including the case or reference number, date you filed the complaint, and status of your case
After you submit it, you will be contacted by someone from the OCR office asking for
1.Consent forms
2.Any documents, evidence, or materials that will support your case
The Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education | The Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice | The Denver Regional Location for the Office of Civil Rights | |
Call | (800) 421-3481 TDD: 800-877-8339 | 1-855-856-1249 (202) 514-3847 (877) 292-3804 → Educational Opportunities Section only | (303) 844-5695 TDD: 800-877-8339 Fax: 303-844-4303 |
ocr@ed.gov | education@usdoj.gov → Educational Opportunities Section only | OCR.Denver@ed.gov | |
Website | www.ed.gov/ocr | https://civilrights.justice.gov/#three | |
Write | U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202-1100 | U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20530-0001 | U.S. Department of Education Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Building 1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 310 Denver, CO 80204-3582 |
The Civil Rights Division [of the Department of Justice] strives to provide accurate and effective communication with members of the public, regardless of their level of English proficiency. It is Division policy to take reasonable steps to overcome language barriers to Division programs or activities, at no cost to the limited English proficient (LEP) individual. Please let us know if you have trouble understanding English or need help communicating with the Civil Rights Division. Ask for an interpreter or if translated material is available when you contact us. If you can, please tell us your language (or dialect) (source).
La División de Derechos Civiles se esfuerza por comunicarse de manera precisa y efectiva con el público, independientemente de su nivel de dominio del inglés. La política de la División es tomar las medidas necesarias para superar las barreras del idioma en cuanto al acceso a los programas o a las actividades de la División, sin costo alguno para las personas con una capacidad limitada en inglés (LEP, por sus siglas en inglés). Por favor déjenos saber si tiene problemas para entender el inglés o si necesita ayuda para comunicarse con la División de Derechos Civiles. Cuando se comunique con nosotros, pida un intérprete o pregúntenos si hay material de referencia ya traducido. De ser posible, díganos qué idioma (o dialecto) habla. (source)
Si usted u otra persona ha sido víctima de discriminación:
- Llame al 1-855-856-1249 o (202) 514-3847. Contestamos el teléfono de lunes a viernes entre las
- 9 am y las 5 pm, hora del este.
- Marque el número 9 para conseguir ayuda en su idioma. Escuchará un mensaje automático.
- Si usted no habla inglés o español, marque el número 9 para conseguir ayuda.
- Si usted llama durante horas laborales – indique al operador el idioma que usted habla y espere
- que le conectemos con un intérprete.
- Si usted llama fuera del horario laboral – diga su nombre, su idioma y su número de teléfono,
- si puede. De lo contrario, vuelva a llamar durante hora laborales. (source)
After You Have Filed the OCR Complaint
If you would like to confirm that the OCR received your complaint, you can call 800-421-3481 or send an email to OCR@ed.gov.
If you need to change something in your complaint or send additional documents, send them to OCR.Denver@ed.gov. Do not fill out a new complaint form.
After you send your complaint and it has been reviewed, a staff person will contact you using the contact information in your complaint. You might be given further instructions, and in some cases you will be given a consent form to complete. The OCR probably will not be able to give you updates about your complaint because they are very busy. However, if you have questions or would like to change something in your complaint, you can contact the Denver regional office at OCR.Denver@ed.gov or by calling (303) 844-5695. You should make sure to keep copies of all your correspondence with the OCR for your records.
Sometimes the OCR will decide that it is necessary to reveal your identity in order to resolve the case, but they will not do this without your permission. If this is what happens, they will ask you to complete a consent form giving them permission to reveal your identity to the agency, school, district, or college that you complained about. You will have 20 days after they ask for you to complete the consent form to fill it out and return it. If you don’t fill out the consent form and return it in that time, the OCR will close your case. If you do give your consent to have your identity revealed, you must fill out the consent form and send it back to the OCR. You can send it by scanning it and emailing it, mailing it, or bringing it to your regional office in person.
Sometimes the OCR will decide that it needs more information from you. If that happens, they will contact you. If they contact you and ask for more information, you will have 14 days to respond to them unless you request more time. If you do not respond to them or if you do not want to provide more information, they might close your case.
The OCR will promptly contact you by mail, email, or a phone call to let you know whether or not they will go forward with your complaint.
The OCR will determine whether they can further process your complaint. They will do this by checking
- if they have the legal authority to investigate the complaint
- if your complaint has enough information
- if your complaint was submitted on time (6 months after the most recent discrimination occurred)
- If your complaint was submitted more than 6 months after the most recent discrimination, they will also evaluate your reason for requesting a waiver for that deadline
If they decide that they have the legal authority to investigate your complaint because civil rights laws were broken, and that you provided enough information, and that your complaint was submitted on time (or they decide to grant your waiver), then they will open an investigation into your case. During all this process, they will be neutral.
Your complaint could be dismissed. Some of the reasons for this include:
- The OCR does not have the legal authority to investigate your complaint
- The complaint does not show that one of the civil rights laws that the OCR enforces was broken
- The complaint was not filed on time (6 months after the most recent discrimination occured) and the OCR did not grant a waiver for that requirement
- The complaint does not have enough information and evidence, and when the OCR requested more information from you you did not respond within 14 days and you did not request more time to respond
- The complaint talks about issues that have already been resolved, so there is nothing else for the OCR to do
- The complaint talks about issues that have already been investigated by another Federal, state, or local civil rights agency
- The complaint talks about issues that have already been investigated by an internal grievance process that was fair, and has been resolved fairly
- The complaint talks about issues that have already been brought in a state or Federal court.
- Step 1 – Open the investigation: If the OCR decides to open an investigation into your complaint, they will notify you and the subject of your complaint (for example, the school). Opening an investigation is only the first step, it doesn’t imply what the OCR will ultimately determine.
- Step 2 – Investigate your complaint: During the investigation, the OCR is neutral. The OCR will only try to find the facts. They will do this in different ways. The investigation could include reviewing evidence and documents submitted by you, the subject of your complaint, and other sources. It could also include interviewing you or other people involved in the complaint, or going to the site where the discriminattion occurred. The OCR will work to make sure that its actions are legal, supported by evidence, and relevant to the issues you raised in your complaint.
- Step 3 – Conclude the investigation: Then, based on what they found the OCR will decide if the subject of your complaint broke the law.
- Step 4 – Notify you: Finally, the OCR will send a letter to you and the subject of your complaint to tell you about what they found. This letter is called a “Letter of Findings.” This letter does not represent OCR policy.
Your case can be resolved in the beginning, middle, or end of the investigation.
1.In the beginning of the investigation, if both you and the subject of your complaint (for example, the school) agree and the OCR thinks it’s appropriate, the OCR will help you to reach a “facilitated resolution between parties” by facilitating discussions between you to help you both understand the laws and think of possible solutions. However, the OCR does not monitor if the school complies with the agreement. If they don’t, you can file a new OCR complaint.
2.In the middle of the investigation, if the subject of your complaint (for example, the school) and the OCR want to resolve the complaint they can come to an agreement about changes that the school has to make based on the information in your complaint and what the OCR finds in its investigation. After they reach an agreement, the OCR will monitor to see if the school complies with it.
3.At the end of the investigation, if the OCR finds that the subject of your complaint (for example, the school) didn’t comply with civil rights laws, the OCR will try to get the school to agree to voluntarily resolve the issue by making changes that fully fix the issues you identified in your complaint and that the OCR found in its investigation. If that happens, the OCR will then monitor the school to make sure they are complying with the agreement and making the changes. If the subject of your complaint does not agree to voluntarily comply with the civil rights laws and stop breaking them, then the OCR could start the process to stop giving Federal financial assistance to the school or even refer the school to the Department of Justice.
If you disagree with the outcome of your case, you can file an appeal. In your appeal, you must explain why you are appealing the outcome. Are you appealing because the OCR had inaccurate or incomplete information? Do you think the correct legal standard was not applied? Do you think the legal analysis the OCR used was incorrect? In your appeal, explain what you disagree with and how correcting the errors would change the outcome of your case. Your appeal cannot be longer than 10 double-spaced pages. The appeal must be filed 60 days or less after the OCR notified you of the outcome of your case unless you have a special circumstance and you ask for a waiver. When you file the appeal, the OCR will send a copy to the school, district, or college that the complaint was originally about. They will have 14 days to give a response. After that, the OCR will notify both you and the school of their decision.
You can send the appeal by email, mail, or fax:
- email: OCR@ed.gov
- mail: Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue Sw, washington, D.C. 20202
- fax: 202-453-6012