What happens after you file your complaint?

After you file your complaint, it will be assigned a reference number and will be forwarded to the Lehigh County Human Relations Commission within ten (10) days. 

Within thirty (30) days of receipt of your complaint by the Commission, the Commission will conduct a review to determine if the complaint is within its jurisdiction, including a determination as to whether the complaint sets forth enough facts to support the claim, which is known as a prima facie case of discrimination. 

During this time a member of the Commission will contact you by either email, on the phone, or arrange for an in-person meeting, to further discuss your complaint, your information, and your evidence of discrimination. At this time, you are able to change or add to your complaint form information. You may also withdraw your complaint at this or any time. 

If your complaint continues to be found to be within the jurisdiction of the Commission and your evidence demonstrates the merit of your complaint, the Commission will send a copy of it to the respondent who must respond to your complaint in writing within sixty (60) days. The Commission will also notify the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission of the complaint.

During this time the Commission will discuss your complaint with the respondent, to see what the respondent’s version of the issue is. 

If the respondent admits to the discrimination, or if the respondent agrees to try to resolve the complaint, the Commission may act to help with the resolution of the complaint.

If the investigation of your discrimination complaint is found to have factual merit but the respondent does not agree to the evidence, a majority of the Human Relations Commission will adjudicate it and determine a resolution. The Commission may do this with the help of the Lehigh County Legal Department.

If your complaint is found to be justified either by the respondent agreeing to its accuracy, or by a determination by the Commission based on the evidence presented, you as the complainant may choose to use this determination as the grounds for a lawsuit that you bring with your own representation in the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County .

Statements of fact in the complaint and the response must be verified and are made subject to criminal penalties if they are made falsely. 

Retaliation against you for filing the complaint is prohibited and would form the basis for a complaint by itself.