Louisiana’s workplace harassment laws combine a state employment discrimination statute, Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:332, with federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The state law prohibits intentional discrimination, including harassment, based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, military status, and natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle, but only at employers with 20 or more employees.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 – 332 Intentional Discrimination in Employment Two features make Louisiana unusual: you must send the employer 30 days’ written notice before filing suit, and the state gives you only one year to get to court.
What Counts as Harassment
Louisiana has no standalone harassment statute. Harassment is treated as a form of discrimination under RS 23:332 when offensive conduct is tied to a protected characteristic and is severe or frequent enough that a reasonable person would find the work environment intimidating, hostile, or abusive.
Courts look at how often the behavior happened, how serious it was, whether it was physically threatening or humiliating, and whether it interfered with the employee’s ability to work. Isolated offhand remarks usually aren’t enough. A single incident can occasionally qualify if it’s extreme, but most successful cases involve a pattern.
One quirk matters. The state statute requires “intentional” discrimination.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 – 332 Intentional Discrimination in Employment Louisiana courts focus on whether the conduct was deliberate and connected to a protected trait rather than simply offensive.
Beyond RS 23:332, Louisiana has separate statutes covering pregnancy discrimination, sickle cell trait discrimination, and sexual harassment, all enforced by the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights.2Louisiana Department of Administration. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 51 – 2231 Statement of Purpose Public employers must maintain a written sexual harassment policy defining prohibited conduct and reporting procedures.3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 42 – 342 Mandatory Policy Prohibiting Sexual Harassment
Which Employers Are Covered
Louisiana’s employment discrimination law applies only to employers with 20 or more employees in the state for each working day in at least 20 calendar weeks of the current or preceding year.4Louisiana Department of Administration. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 – 302 Definitions That’s higher than the federal Title VII floor of 15 employees.
If your employer has between 15 and 19 employees, you generally can’t sue under Louisiana state law, but you can file a Title VII charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.5U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEOC Strategic Plan 2022-2026 Below 15 employees, neither statute covers most harassment claims.
Deadlines and Required Steps
Every path forward has strict procedural requirements. Miss one and the case can be dismissed regardless of how strong the underlying facts are.
The 30-Day Written Notice
Before filing a lawsuit in Louisiana state court, you must send the employer written notice at least 30 days in advance. The notice must detail the alleged discrimination, and both sides are expected to try in good faith to resolve the dispute before litigation.6Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 – 303 Civil Suits Authorized Employees who skip this step and go straight to court risk dismissal on procedural grounds.
Filing With the LCHR or EEOC
You can file a discrimination charge with the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights, which enforces state anti-discrimination law.7Louisiana Commission on Human Rights. Louisiana Commission on Human Rights Homepage The LCHR and the EEOC have a work-sharing agreement, so a charge filed with one is generally cross-filed with the other.
Because Louisiana has a state enforcement agency, the federal EEOC filing deadline is extended from 180 days to 300 days from the last incident of harassment.8U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits for Filing a Charge For ongoing harassment, the clock runs from the most recent incident.
The One-Year Prescriptive Period
Louisiana imposes a one-year prescriptive period, its version of a statute of limitations, running from the date of the discriminatory act. Filing a charge with the EEOC or LCHR pauses that clock while the investigation is pending, but the pause cannot exceed six months.6Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 – 303 Civil Suits Authorized One year is shorter than most employees expect.
The Right-to-Sue Letter
To file a federal Title VII lawsuit, you generally need a Notice of Right to Sue from the EEOC. The agency typically investigates for up to 180 days before issuing the notice, though it may issue one earlier. Once you receive it, you have 90 days to file your federal case.9U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Can Expect After You File a Charge
What You Can Recover
The choice between state and federal court is often driven by damages, because the two systems offer meaningfully different remedies.
Under Louisiana State Law
A successful claim under RS 23:303 can yield compensatory damages, back pay, benefits, reinstatement, front pay when reinstatement isn’t practical, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs.6Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 – 303 Civil Suits Authorized The Louisiana Human Rights Act separately provides a civil cause of action to recover actual damages and attorney fees for anti-discrimination violations.10Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 51 – 2264 Civil Remedies for Injunction and Damages
The critical detail: Louisiana does not allow punitive damages in employment discrimination cases. If punishing the employer is part of what you want, you need to file under federal law. That’s a major reason employment attorneys in Louisiana often pursue harassment cases in federal court even when a state claim is available.
The state fee-shifting rule cuts both ways. If a court finds your claim was frivolous, the employer can recover its own attorney fees and damages from you.6Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 – 303 Civil Suits Authorized
Under Federal Title VII
Federal claims allow both compensatory and punitive damages, but Congress caps the combined total by employer size:
- 15 to 100 employees: $50,000
- 101 to 200 employees: $100,000
- 201 to 500 employees: $200,000
- More than 500 employees: $300,000
The caps apply to emotional distress damages plus punitive damages combined.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 1981a – Damages in Cases of Intentional Discrimination Back pay and front pay are not capped. Prevailing Title VII plaintiffs also carry a strong presumption of entitlement to attorney fees and litigation costs, including expert witness fees.12U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Chapter 11 Remedies
Retaliation Is a Separate Claim
Louisiana law prohibits retaliation against employees who report legal violations. Under RS 23:967, an employer cannot take adverse action against an employee who, after first notifying the employer of a violation, discloses or threatens to disclose it. Title VII offers parallel protection for filing a harassment charge, participating in an investigation, or opposing discriminatory practices.8U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits for Filing a Charge
Retaliation claims often survive even when the underlying harassment claim doesn’t. If you file a good-faith complaint and are then fired, demoted, or subjected to a hostile environment because of that complaint, the retaliation is an independent violation. The one-year state prescriptive period and 300-day EEOC filing window apply here too.
The Employer Defense That Depends on Whether You Reported
When a supervisor’s harassment does not result in a tangible employment action such as termination, demotion, or reassignment, the employer can raise what’s known as the Faragher-Ellerth defense. Two elements: the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct harassment, and the employee unreasonably failed to use the employer’s complaint procedures. Prove both, and the employer avoids liability.13U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Federal Highlights – Faragher-Ellerth Defense
The defense disappears entirely if the supervisor’s harassment led to a concrete employment action. If you were fired, demoted, or transferred to a worse position because of the harassment, the employer is strictly liable.
For employees, the practical point is simple. Use whatever internal complaint procedure exists, and keep proof that you did. Failing to report through available channels is often enough for the employer to satisfy the second element of the defense, and that alone can sink an otherwise strong case.
How a Settlement Is Taxed
Settlement money doesn’t all land in the same tax bucket. Damages for physical injury or physical sickness are tax-free, and emotional distress damages that stem from a physical injury are also excluded. But emotional distress damages tied to non-physical harm, which is where most harassment settlements sit, are taxable as ordinary income. Back pay and lost wages are taxable too.14Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income Punitive damages are taxable in nearly all cases.
One provision affects the negotiation itself. Under Section 162(q) of the Internal Revenue Code, enacted in 2017, an employer cannot deduct any settlement payment related to sexual harassment or sexual abuse if the settlement includes a nondisclosure agreement, and the same rule blocks the deduction of related attorney fees. The restriction does not affect the employee’s ability to deduct their own attorney fees.15Internal Revenue Service. Certain Payments Related to Sexual Harassment and Sexual Abuse Some employers have become less willing to insist on nondisclosure clauses in sexual harassment settlements as a result, which is worth remembering at the negotiating table.