Oregon Workplace Harassment Laws, Rights, and Remedies

Oregon’s workplace harassment laws give employees a five-year window to file a claim, prohibit employers from forcing nondisclosure agreements on harassment victims, require every employer to maintain a written anti-harassment policy, and allow you to pursue a case through the Bureau of Labor and Industries, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or directly in court. The state does not cap compensatory or punitive damages for harassment claims brought under state law, which makes Oregon one of the more employee-protective jurisdictions in the country.

When Workplace Conduct Becomes Illegal Harassment

Harassment is unlawful in Oregon when unwelcome conduct targets you because of a protected characteristic and affects your ability to do your job. ORS 659A.030 lists the protected categories: race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, age (if you are 18 or older), and an expunged juvenile record.¹ You are also protected from discrimination based on the protected characteristics of someone you associate with. Disability discrimination falls under a separate statute, ORS 659A.112, and military service under ORS 659A.082.²

The conduct itself usually takes one of several forms:

Quid pro quo, where a supervisor conditions a promotion, raise, or your continued employment on sexual favors. A single incident can establish this type of claim.
Hostile work environment, where ongoing verbal comments, physical contact, or offensive visual materials create an intimidating or degrading atmosphere tied to a protected characteristic.
Verbal harassment, including slurs, derogatory jokes, or persistent mocking tied to your identity.
Physical harassment, including unwanted touching, blocking your movement, or other contact that makes you feel unsafe.

The line between garden-variety rudeness and illegal harassment is the link to a protected characteristic. A manager who treats everyone poorly is a bad boss. A manager who directs insults at someone’s religion, race, or gender has crossed into prohibited conduct. That distinction is where most cases are won or lost.

What Your Employer Is Required to Do

Every Oregon employer, regardless of size, must adopt a written policy for preventing discrimination and harassment.³ The statute spells out what the policy has to contain:

A clear process for reporting prohibited conduct.
The name of the person responsible for receiving reports, plus an alternate contact.
The statute of limitations for bringing a claim.
A statement that the employer cannot force a nondisclosure agreement, and that the employee has the right to voluntarily request one with a seven-day revocation period.
Guidance encouraging both employers and employees to document incidents.

The policy has to be given to every worker at hire and kept accessible after that.⁴ If your employer has no written policy, that is itself a violation worth reporting.

Nondisclosure Agreements Are No Longer a Condition

Senate Bill 726, the Workplace Fairness Act, took effect in 2019 and barred employers from requiring workers to sign nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreements that would prevent them from discussing harassment or discrimination.⁵ Before the law changed, employers routinely used these agreements as a condition of employment or severance. That practice is now illegal.

An NDA can still appear in a settlement agreement, but only if the employee requests it. Even then, you get at least seven days to revoke the agreement after signing, and it does not take effect until the revocation window closes.⁶ If your employer offers severance that requires silence about harassment, read it carefully before signing anything.

How Long You Have to File

Deadlines are where otherwise strong claims die, so track them carefully.

Under state law, you have five years from the date of the incident to file a complaint with BOLI or a lawsuit in court for harassment and discrimination under ORS 659A.030.⁷ That same five-year window applies to disability discrimination under ORS 659A.112 and to violations of the NDA restrictions under ORS 659A.370.⁸ The five-year deadline applies to incidents occurring on or after September 29, 2019.

If you want to pursue a federal claim with the EEOC, the window is much shorter. Because Oregon has its own enforcement agency, you have 300 calendar days from the last incident of harassment to file a federal charge.⁹ Weekends and holidays count, though if the deadline falls on one, you get until the next business day. Filing an internal grievance with your employer or a union does not pause this clock.

One more deadline matters: if you file with BOLI and later receive a 90-day notice closing the administrative process, you have 90 days from that notice to file a civil lawsuit.⁸

Where You Can File

Oregon employees have multiple paths, and you are not locked into one choice from the start.⁴

BOLI

The Bureau of Labor and Industries handles complaints through its Civil Rights Division. You submit an inquiry through BOLI’s online portal, and the agency may then draft a perfected complaint for you to sign. Once signed, BOLI generally has one year to complete its investigation. The agency may try to facilitate a settlement or move toward a contested case hearing. Expect delays: BOLI’s own contact page warns it may take six months before you hear back after filing.¹⁰

EEOC

If your claim also violates federal law such as Title VII, you can file a charge with the EEOC. Because BOLI and the EEOC share a worksharing agreement, filing with one agency typically dual-files the charge with the other.¹¹ Whichever agency receives it first usually keeps it for processing, so you generally do not need to file separately with both.

Court

Oregon lets you bypass BOLI entirely and file a civil lawsuit in state circuit court or federal district court. Going straight to court gives you access to a jury trial and potentially larger damage awards, but you take on litigation costs and timelines yourself.

Documenting What Happened

Strong documentation separates claims that move forward from claims that stall. Start a private log the moment harassment begins. For each incident, record the date, time, location, exactly what was said or done, who did it, and the names of any witnesses. Keep the log somewhere your employer cannot access, such as a personal email account or a notebook you keep at home.

Digital evidence deserves the same care. Save screenshots of harassing texts, emails, or social media posts. Forward workplace emails to a personal account if your employer’s policies allow it. Keep voicemails rather than deleting them, and preserve originals in their original format instead of making summaries.

Oregon’s written policy statute itself encourages both employers and employees to document incidents.³ Specific dates and quotes carry a claim much further than general statements. “It happened a lot” invites the respondent to minimize the experience; concrete entries make that harder.

Retaliation Is Separately Illegal

Your employer cannot punish you for reporting harassment. Under ORS 659A.030(1)(f), it is an unlawful employment practice to fire, expel, or otherwise discriminate against someone because they opposed unlawful conduct, filed a complaint, testified in a proceeding, or attempted to do any of those things.²

Retaliation is not limited to termination. Courts in the Ninth Circuit have found that unfavorable schedule changes, undeserved negative performance reviews, demotions, reduced responsibilities, and denial of transfer requests can all qualify as adverse employment actions when they are motivated by your protected activity. The test is whether the action would have discouraged a reasonable employee from filing a complaint.¹² If your schedule suddenly changes or your responsibilities get stripped shortly after you report harassment, the timing alone can be powerful evidence.

What You Can Recover

If you win a harassment claim in Oregon court under ORS 659A.885, a court can order any combination of the following remedies:¹³

Injunctive relief, meaning a court order requiring the employer to stop the harassment, change its policies, or take other corrective action.
Reinstatement to your job, or hiring if you were denied employment.
Back pay for lost wages, up to two years before you filed your BOLI complaint or lawsuit.
Compensatory damages for emotional distress and other harms, with a minimum of $200.
Punitive damages for egregious employer conduct, with no statutory cap in Oregon harassment cases.
Attorney fees and costs, recoverable by the prevailing party at trial and on appeal.

You can request a jury trial for harassment claims under ORS 659A.030.¹³ Federal Title VII claims come with capped compensatory and punitive damages based on employer size, which is one reason employees with strong cases often prefer the state forum.

One tax point worth flagging before you sign a settlement: most harassment settlements compensate for emotional distress, which the IRS treats as taxable income unless the distress stems directly from a physical injury.¹⁴ Punitive damages are always taxable. The portion of a settlement that reimburses medical expenses for therapy or counseling related to the distress, if you did not previously deduct those costs, is not taxable. How your settlement agreement allocates money between categories can significantly affect your tax bill, so pay attention to that language during negotiations.

1
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.030 – Discrimination Because of Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Marital Status, Age or Expunged Juvenile Record Prohibited
2
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 659A – Unlawful Discrimination in Employment, Public Accommodations and Real Property Transactions
3
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.375 – Employer Policies Relating to Prevention of Discrimination and Sexual Assault Requirements
4
Bureau of Labor and Industries. Discrimination at Work
5
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Senate Bill 726 – Unlawful Conduct in the Workplace
6
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.370 – Employer Prohibited From Entering Into Agreements That Prevent Employee From Discussing Certain Unlawful Conduct
7
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.820 – Complaints
8
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.875 – Time Limitations
9
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits For Filing A Charge
10
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Contact Us
11
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Dual Filing
12
United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit. Civil Rights – Title VII – Adverse Employment Action in Retaliation Cases
13
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.885 – Civil Action
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness