| Q. | What posters are required to be posted by the Missouri Commission on Human Rights (MCHR)? |
| A. | The MCHR requires every employer, labor organization and employment agency in the state to post an MCHR Equal Employment Opportunity poster in a place where they put other employee notices or in a conspicuous place where employees will have access to it. All persons and businesses involved in the sale or rental of dwellings are required to post the MCHR Fair Housing poster in their business office . All places of public accommodations are required to post the MCHR's Fair Public Accommodations poster in their place of business. These posters are available to be downloaded from this website. Click on Download Forms/Posters on the MCHR's Index page. |
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| Q. | My boss is treating me differently than other employees. I am constantly being yelled at, criticized and harassed. Is there anything you can do? |
| A. | MCHR cannot investigate these claims unless the boss' actions are due to one of our covered categories. There are no laws to protect employees from this kind of treatment unless the boss is only directing this behavior toward one protected class of workers and not others. |
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| Q. | I was terminated and my boss is refusing to give me my final pay. |
| A. | Refer to the Division of Labor Standards (573)751-3403. |
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| Q. | I was terminated and my boss is refusing to pay me for unused vacation time. |
| A. | Refer to the Division of Labor Standards (573)751-3403. |
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| Q. | I was hired for a position and when I reported to work, I was told that they had changed their mind. Is there anything I can do? |
| A. | Missouri is an "Employment at Will" state. An employee can be hired and fired at any time for any reason. However, if the reason is because of a person's race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, disability or age (40-69), it may be a violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act. |
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| Q. | Can my employer fire me for missing work even if I have a doctor's excuse? |
| A. | Depending on the severity of the illness, the employee may qualify for FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act). If they do not, then no protection exists except for categories covered by the Missouri Human Rights Act. |
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| Q. | I was hurt on the job and my employer terminated me. |
| A. | Refer to the Division of Workers' Compensation (573)751-4231. |
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| Q. | I have an employee who is on maternity leave. Do I have to keep her position open? |
| A. | Yes, if the employee is covered by FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act). Also, if you keep positions open for other temporary medical problems, you must do the same for pregnancy. Otherwise it can be considered as treating an employee who is pregnant differently based on her sex. |
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| Q. | Do I have to let a pregnant employee work until she has a doctor's release, or can I relieve her of her duties now? |
| A. | The employee should be allowed to work until her doctor tells her she must quit work. |
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| Q. | Can I change a pregnant employee's duties? |
| A. | Not unless she has a doctor's excuse. |
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| Q. | How do I get a copy of my commission complaint file? |
| A. | You must make a written request that includes name of file and file number. The Commission can only release copies of your file after the case is closed. Send your request to:
Missouri Commision on Human Rights
P.O. Box 1129
Jefferson City, MO 65102-1129. |
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| Q. | What is a Right to Sue letter? |
| A. | The Missouri Human Rights Act has a provision that a person who filed a complaint with MCHR can bypass the administrative process and take their case directly to the state courts. However, before filing in court, you must request a "Right to Sue" letter from MCHR. We issue this by letter and then close our case. Send your request to the assigned investigator. |
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| Q. | Why can't I get my determination information BEFORE I request my Right to Sue so I can better decide what to do? |
| A. | The law states that the request for a "Right to Sue" letter, must be made BEFORE the Commission enters its determination on your case. Once a case is closed, it is too late to get a "Right to Sue" letter. |
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| Q. | How long do I have to file a complaint? |
| A. | A complaint must be filed with MCHR within 180 days from the last date of discrimination. If it is an employment situation that happened more than 180 days ago but less than 300, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can investigate your complaint. If it is a housing situation that occurred more than 180 days ago but less than 365, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can investigate. |
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| Q. | Do you represent me? |
| A. | No. MCHR is a neutral fact-finding agency during investigations. MCHR's job is to investigate each complaint to determine if there is evidence that a violation of the law has occurred. If it is determined that there is probable cause to believe discrimination has occurred, then the state has an interest in preventing and eliminating discrimination. |
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| Q. | I hurt my back. Doesn't my employer have to provide me with an accommodation? |
| A. | Not unless your condition substantially limits one or more major life activity. These are defined as walking, talking, seeing, hearing, breathing, etc. Working has also been defined as a major life activity. Accomodations for disabilities of employees must also be reasonable to the situation. |
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| Q. | I filed a complaint with the EEOC or with HUD. Do I have to file one with MCHR too? |
| A. | No, if you were employed in Missouri or rent or buy property in Missouri, the EEOC or HUD will automatically dual-file the complaint with MCHR as part of our Dual-Filing Agreement with these two federal agencies. |
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| Q. | What is discrimination? |
| A. | Discrimination is treating a person, or a group of persons worse than others are treated under the same or similar circumstances, or denying a person or persons the same benefits or privileges provided to others because of that person's race, color, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, religion or disability or familial status (families with children). |
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| Q. | What is familial status discrimination? |
| A. | It is the practice of treating families with children under the age of 18 differently with regard to the terms and conditions of housing. It is also illegal to advertise "no children" in ads for housing. |
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| Q. | Can an employer refuse to hire me because I am pregnant? |
| A. | No, not as long as you are qualified and capable of performing the essential functions of the job. |
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| Q. | What kind of questions shouldn't I ask in an interview? |
| A. | Any questions about race, ethnic origin, age, or sex are prohibited. If the person has a recognizable disability, an employer can ask if the person will need a specific accommodation to perform the essential functions of the job. MCHR has a brochure that describes the types of questions that are and are not acceptable. The brochure is titled the Revised Guide to Pre-Employment Inquires and is available free of charge by contacting any of our offices or by clicking on Pre-Employment Inquiries at the beginning of this page. |
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| Q. | Am I covered if I believe that I was discriminated against because I am gay? |
| A. | No. The Missouri Human Rights Act does not offer protection based on sexual orientation. However, the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia protect against sexual orientation discrimination. |
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| Q. | Can my employer talk to me any kind of way? |
| A. | There is no law against a rude employer unless the employer makes offensive racial or sexual comments or offensive comments about age, disability or other protected categories. |
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| Q. | What if I believe my former employer is "black-balling" me when a potential new employer is calling for a reference? |
| A. | This is not necessarily illegal. However, if the employer is doing this because you filed a discrimination complaint against them, this could be considered retaliation and that is covered under the Missouri Human Rights Act. |
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| Q. | Will the Commission on Human Rights and EEOC or HUD both investigate my complaint? |
| A. | No, only one agency investigates and then shares the results with the other agency. Either MCHR, HUD or EEOC will determine who will investigate the complaint. |
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| Q. | How long does an investigation usually take? |
| A. | This varies depending upon the complexity of the case and how cooperative the parties are. We usually complete an investigation within six months, although it could be much shorter or longer than this. |
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| Q. | What are the remedies to a discrimination complaint? |
| A. | These vary depending upon the alleged harm that occurred. You can get back-pay in discharge cases, a job in failure to hire cases, the apartment in failure to rent cases and you can also get a monetary remedy for deprivation of civil rights, emotional suffering and humiliation. |
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| Q. | What if I want to settle my case rather than proceed to court? |
| A. | We always encourage the parties to consider settlement. In fact, shortly after the complaint is filed, we will ask the parties to discuss settlement with our Early Resolution staff. Settlement effectively ends the case. |
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| Q. | Who has the burden of proving discrimination? |
| A. | The complainant must prove they are a member of a protected category, that something bad happened to them and that there is a connection between the bad thing and their protected category. The burden then shifts to the respondent to articulate a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for what happened. At that point the burden shifts back to the complainant to show the reason given by the respondent was not the real reason, but a pretext to discriminate. |
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| Q. | Am I required to tell my employer about sexual harassment I am experiencing before filing a discrimination complaint with the MCHR? |
| A. | Yes and No. If the sexual harassment is "quid pro quo" sexual harassment, meaning sex has been made a term or condition of your employment by a supervisor, you do not have to tell them first. If the sexual harassment is "hostile environment," you have to tell a person in a position of authority UNLESS you can prove that the employer has a record of not doing anything even if you report it. If you do not report a "hostile environment" complaint, the employer MIGHT be able to get out of liability. |
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| Q. | What is the legal definition of sexual harassment? |
| A. | Sexual harassment is defined as any behavior of a sexual nature that is unwelcome. It includes verbal comments as well as physical touching, as well as "dirty" pictures or lewd jokes. Situations are analyzed on a case-by-case basis. |
