How to file a disability discrimination complaint in New York

If an employer has refused to consider an accommodation for ADHD, disclosed your medical information or punished you for asking, you can take the matter to a government agency. New York has three, and their deadlines differ by years. This article sets out the steps as of October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. Confirm every deadline with the agency itself, and speak with an employment attorney before you file, because the first filing shapes your later options.

Step 1: Work out which laws cover your employer

Coverage depends on the size and location of the employer.

• Federal ADA: employers with 15 or more employees. Enforced by the EEOC.
• New York State Human Rights Law: all employers in the state. Enforced by the Division of Human Rights (DHR).
• New York City Human Rights Law: employers with four or more persons in their employ. Enforced by the NYC Commission on Human Rights (CCHR).

An employee of a 10-person firm in Brooklyn, for example, is outside the ADA but inside both the state and city laws. What each law requires of the employer is explained in ADHD workplace accommodations in New York.

Step 2: Check the deadline for each option

Two cautions about the state deadline. The three-year period applies to acts on or after February 15, 2024. For earlier acts the old one-year deadline applied, and DHR states that, except for workplace sexual harassment, "the deadline to file with the Division has expired."

Count from the right event. Each agency measures from the most recent or last act of discrimination. Write down the date of each incident now, while you can still reconstruct it.

Step 3: Understand how the choices interact

These routes are not freely combinable.

• CCHR. The Commission will not take a complaint if you "have already filed a discrimination complaint based upon the same facts with any other court or agency." That includes DHR, the EEOC and state or federal court. Unemployment and workers' compensation claims do not count against you.
• DHR or court. Under Executive Law 297(9), a person generally chooses between the Division and a court action for the same grievance. A Division complaint can be withdrawn before a hearing in order to go to court.

Agencies also differ in process and in what a case can lead to. Those differences are a main reason to talk with an employment attorney before the first filing.

Step 4: Assemble your record

Agencies work from facts and dates. Before you call or fill in a form, gather:

• a timeline of events with dates, names and what was said;
• your accommodation request, and proof of when you sent it;
• the employer's responses. In New York City, that includes the written final determination an employer must issue after the cooperative dialogue;
• any documentation you gave the employer, such as a clinician's letter;
• performance reviews, warnings and termination paperwork, especially where the timing follows your request;
• names of witnesses;
• the employer's legal name, address and approximate number of employees.

Keep the originals. Give agencies copies. If your documentation of ADHD is thin, what an ADHD evaluation report needs for work, school and exam accommodations explains what a useful letter contains.

Step 5: File

New York State Division of Human Rights

Call (844) 697-3471 or use the online Discrimination Reporting Form on the Division's website. The report is not yet a formal complaint. DHR first reviews whether the law covers the situation, which the Division says may take several weeks. Filing is free and no lawyer is needed.

NYC Commission on Human Rights

The Commission's complaint process page, last updated April 24, 2026, describes how to report discrimination and what happens next. Have your timeline ready, and tell the Commission whether you have filed anywhere else, since an earlier filing on the same facts bars a Commission complaint.

EEOC

A charge under the ADA must reach the EEOC within the time limit in the table. The EEOC's time limits page explains how the period is counted. Do not plan around the last day.

After you file

• Keep a log of every contact with the agency, including the name of the person you spoke with.
• Answer agency requests by their deadlines.
• Continue to document events at work, including anything that looks like retaliation, and report it to the agency handling your case.
• Tell the agency if your address, phone number or email changes.

If the problem is at a college

Students use a different route. A complaint against a college under Section 504 or Title II of the ADA goes to the US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. It must ordinarily be filed within 180 days of the last act of discrimination, or within 60 days after the school's own grievance process ends if you used it. Details are in ADHD accommodations at New York colleges.

Looking after yourself during a dispute

A complaint can run for months, and conflict at work tends to make ADHD symptoms harder to manage. Keeping treatment steady matters during that time. The adult ADHD treatment page describes ongoing care, and the contact page lists ways to reach the practice. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.