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What can you do if you believe you may have been discriminated against?

Contact our office to find out about filing a complaint.
Our services are neutral, confidential and free.

WHAT EXACTLY IS DISCRIMINATION?

Unfair treatment in employment, public accommodations, housing, education and credit due to your:

Race
Color
Religion
Creed
Sex
National Origin
Age
Disability (physical or mental)
Marital Status (in credit)
Presence of Children (in housing)
Sexual Orientation
Gender Identity

COMPLAINT PROCESS

A complaint form is filled out by a person alleging discrimination.
Next, the party to whom the complaint is directed is notified and given an opportunity to respond to the allegations.
An investigator then begins collecting information to make a fair and impartial evaluation.
During the investigation, both parties will be asked to consider mediation.
After a complaint has been properly filed for 60 days the Sioux City Human Rights Commission may grant a “right to sue” letter and the person alleging discrimination may begin a lawsuit. In this event, the case will be closed.
When the investigation is completed, commissioners will determine if there is reason to believe that discrimination happened with either a “probable cause” or “no probable cause” finding.
If it is “probable cause”, the next step is mandatory conciliation. If an agreement is reached, the case will be closed. If not, commissioners decide to either close the case or go to public hearing.
If it is “no probable cause”, the investigation is then closed. The person who alleged discrimination then has the option of suing the other party at his/her own expense.
Alleged discrimination must have happened in Sioux City and within the last 300 days. We will make a referral to an appropriate agency if it happened outside city limits
All parties must understand that processing a complaint of discrimination is a sensitive and time consuming process. It is not uncommon for a case to take a year or longer to be resolved. Our staff works to resolve matters as quickly as possible. We ask all involved to be patient.
All complaints are cross-filed with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and if appropriate with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or Housing and Urban Development (HUD).