Experiencing harassment in the workplace is already hard enough. But the challenge may be in making the complaint against a private employer or individual.
Workplace harassment remains a significant issue in the United States. In fiscal year 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 88,201 new discrimination charges and resolved 90,743 charges. The EEOC’s 2025 litigation report also shows that harassment was alleged in 29 of the 94 merit lawsuits filed, representing 30.9% of those cases.
There’s an additional rule that may apply when the alleged harasser works for a city or other government entity. In such cases, it’s important to know the type of claim and the rules in the state involved.
Here’s how to sue a city for harassment to understand the required steps in the process.
Three Different Systems Wear the Same Word
Harassment covers three situations that run through separate machinery. A city employee mistreated by a supervisor is in the employment system. A resident harassed by a code inspector, a police officer, or another city worker is in the government claims system.
Conduct that also amounts to a crime goes to police and prosecutors, who answer to nobody in the first two systems.
That third track belongs to a different set of lawyers working in a different building. A local firm of Athens criminal defense lawyer Adam M. Cain appears in Georgia state and federal criminal courts and in University of Georgia disciplinary hearings, which is the forum where the criminal piece of a dispute plays out rather than the counter where a claim against a city gets stamped.
When the City Was the Employer
Public employers sit under the same federal employment statutes as private ones, so the route starts at an agency rather than a courthouse.
California runs its own parallel system through the Civil Rights Department, where an employment intake form has to arrive within three years of the last harm, and where a right-to-sue notice has to be obtained before a person files their own lawsuit.
Employees of a large city file more of these than most people realize, and the categories repeat.
When the City Was Not the Employer
Outside the employment relationship, the first document is usually a claim form rather than a complaint. Los Angeles publishes its own rules, and they are representative of how these systems work.
The City Attorney states that claims for death, injury to a person, or injury to personal property must be filed no later than six months after the occurrence; that other claims, including damage to real property, run to one year; and that a claimant who disagrees with a denial has six months from service of the denial notice to file a court action.
The Office of the City Clerk takes claims online, by mail, or in person and will not accept them by email or fax. Once filed, the file moves to the city attorney. Other cities use different forms and different offices, and the deadline is set by state law, so the local rule is the one to read.
What to Keep While the Clock Runs
Records decide these cases more often than testimony does. Dates and times of each incident, the names of everyone present, copies of emails and text messages, any internal complaint and whatever response came back, and the reference numbers for every report filed.
Write down your account before you forget the chronology of events because a year from now, it will be the first to become blurry in your memory.
The pattern across all three systems is the same. Something has to be filed with somebody early, and that filing is what keeps the option open. A person who is still deciding whether to pursue a claim loses nothing by meeting the first deadline and a great deal by waiting past it.
Conclusion
There are several steps in the procedure of filing a harassment claim against a city. It can involve specific procedures, deadlines, and documentation requirements. It’s also important to keep records of the incidents, communications, complaints, and other evidence that can help support the claim.
The rules vary depending on the type of claims and the location. These are important points to understand the applicable requirements before filing. Acting within the required deadline can also help protect your legal options.
