EEOC Charge

A formal complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that an employer engaged in unlawful employment discrimination, a mandatory prerequisite to filing a federal discrimination lawsuit under most statutes. The charge filing tolls the statute of limitations and triggers an EEOC investigation, conciliation process, and eventual right-to-sue letter. For funders, a well-documented EEOC charge record — including the employer's response and any EEOC cause findings — is a meaningful due diligence input, as it may preview the employer's litigation posture and settlement appetite.

A well-documented EEOC charge record, including the employer's response and any cause finding, is a meaningful diligence input because it previews both the employer's litigation posture and its historical settlement appetite before a funder commits capital. Funders also verify that the charge-filing and right-to-sue procedural prerequisites were properly satisfied, since a jurisdictional defect at this administrative stage can derail an otherwise strong claim before it ever reaches the merits.