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OCR Complaint Forms - Electronic and PDF Versions

Please read this before continuing to the complaint form at the bottom of this page:

You have selected the Office for Civil Rights' discrimination complaint form. Please read all of the following information before continuing. In addition, you should already have read How the Office for Civil Rights Handles Complaints and Questions and Answers on OCR's Complaint Process.

OCR's authority to resolve complaints extends to allegations of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in public and private programs that receive Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education. These include most schools and colleges and some other entities such as vocational rehabilitation agencies and libraries. OCR also has authority to resolve complaints of disability discrimination by public education entities, and complaints filed under the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act. If you believe you have been discriminated against on any of these bases by a covered entity, you may file a complaint using this form.

If you choose to continue, 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 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.

OCR requires your signed consent authorizing us to process your complaint. If you select the electronic complaint form, after you complete the form but before you submit it electronically, you will be asked to read three additional documents. Two of these documents contain important information with which you should be familiar. The third document is a consent form, which you will need to print, sign, and mail to the Enforcement Office with authority for the state where the institution or entity you are complaining about is located. Once 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, the same three additional documents are included in the PDF packet. You should familiarize yourself with the important information included in them. Once you complete the PDF application form, you should print out the entire packet, sign the consent form, and mail the complaint form and consent form 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 PDF 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.

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Last Modified: 07/19/2013

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