Texas Discrimination Laws: Protected Classes, Filing, and Remedies

Texas discrimination laws protect you from unfair treatment at work and in housing based on traits like race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, and, for housing, familial status. Employment claims run through Texas Labor Code Chapter 21, enforced by the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division. Housing claims run through the Texas Fair Housing Act in Property Code Chapter 301. Both give you a state complaint process with tight deadlines: 180 days for most employment claims, 300 days for sexual harassment.

Who Is Protected at Work

Under Texas Labor Code Section 21.051, an employer cannot base a job decision on an employee’s or applicant’s race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age.¹ Age protection applies to workers 40 and older, mirroring the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Sex discrimination includes pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.

Texas separately bars discrimination based on genetic information. Under Section 21.402, an employer cannot refuse to hire, fire, or penalize someone because of genetic test results or because the person refused to take a genetic test.² The rule reaches employment agencies and labor unions too.

Disability protection covers physical or mental impairments that substantially limit major life activities, and it also covers people who are perceived as having a disability. A hiring manager who passes over a candidate based on an assumption about a medical condition violates the statute whether or not the assumption is correct.

The law applies to private employers with 15 or more employees and to all state and local government employers regardless of size. It also applies to employment agencies and labor organizations, and Section 21.056 makes it unlawful for any covered entity to help or encourage another to discriminate.³ If your employer has fewer than 15 workers, state employment discrimination law generally will not reach it. Federal claims sometimes still apply, so the head count is worth confirming before you conclude you have no options.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Chapter 21 does not list sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County held that firing someone for being gay or transgender is sex discrimination under federal Title VII, and that ruling still binds courts. Texas workers can bring federal claims on that basis.⁴

In January 2026, the EEOC voted to rescind its 2024 enforcement guidance that had spelled out detailed workplace protections for LGBTQ+ employees. The rescission does not change Title VII or Bostock, but it signals that the federal agency itself is less likely to pursue those claims aggressively. Private lawsuits in federal court remain available, and judges decide the scope of Title VII protection case by case.⁴

What Counts as Illegal Employment Conduct

The law reaches every stage of the employment relationship. An employer cannot use a protected trait to decide who to recruit, interview, hire, promote, discipline, pay, or fire. Steering certain groups into specific roles, denying training, or applying different performance standards based on a protected trait also violates the statute.¹

Harassment and Hostile Work Environment

Harassment based on a protected characteristic becomes illegal when the behavior is severe or frequent enough that a reasonable person would find the workplace intimidating or abusive, or when tolerating the conduct becomes an unspoken condition of keeping the job.⁵ Isolated rude comments usually do not cross the line. A pattern of slurs, threats, offensive jokes, or physical intimidation can.

The EEOC weighs the full picture: the nature of the conduct, how often it happened, whether it was physically threatening, and whether it interfered with your ability to do the job. An employer may avoid liability for a supervisor’s harassment if it can show it took reasonable steps to prevent and correct the behavior and the employee failed to use available complaint procedures.⁵ Documenting incidents and reporting internally matters for that reason, even when it feels pointless.

Criminal Background Screening

A blanket policy of rejecting applicants with criminal records can create disparate impact liability under Title VII. The EEOC’s guidance directs employers to weigh three factors before turning someone away for a criminal record: the seriousness of the offense, the time that has passed since the conviction, and whether the offense relates to the job.⁶ An arrest without a conviction is not enough on its own to justify an employment decision. The EEOC recommends an individualized assessment that lets the applicant explain the circumstances.

Pregnancy Accommodations

The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations tied to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the business. Accommodations can include more frequent breaks, a modified schedule, temporary reassignment to lighter duties, permission to sit during shifts that require standing, or telework. An employer cannot force a pregnant worker to take leave when a different accommodation would let her keep working, and cannot impose an accommodation the employee did not agree to through the interactive process.⁷

Retaliation Is Its Own Claim

Texas law independently prohibits retaliation against anyone who opposes a discriminatory practice, files a complaint, or takes part in an investigation or hearing.⁸ Retaliation is broader than getting fired. It includes any action that would discourage a reasonable person from exercising their rights: demotion, schedule changes, loss of workplace privileges, being cut out of meetings, or a manager giving a bad reference because of a past complaint.⁹

Protected activity is broad too. Complaining to a supervisor counts, even without a formal charge. Refusing to follow an instruction you reasonably believe is discriminatory counts. Talking to coworkers to gather information counts. You do not have to be right about the underlying discrimination claim, as long as you had a reasonable, good-faith belief that the conduct was unlawful.¹⁰

Retaliation is the single most common type of charge filed with the EEOC, and these claims can succeed even when the underlying discrimination claim does not. If your employer suddenly starts documenting performance problems or engineering a difficult environment right after you raise a concern, that timing becomes evidence. Courts examine the proximity between the protected activity and the adverse action, any statements suggesting a retaliatory motive, and how similarly situated employees who did not complain were treated.⁹

Housing Discrimination

The Texas Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to refuse to sell or rent a home, or to offer different terms, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.¹¹ Familial status protects families with children under 18 and pregnant women from being steered away or charged higher deposits. Lying about a unit’s availability to avoid renting to someone in a protected class is also a violation.

Disability gets separate, detailed treatment. A housing provider cannot refuse to sell or rent because of a disability, and the protection extends to anyone living with or associated with a person who has one. Landlords must allow tenants with disabilities to make reasonable modifications to a unit at the tenant’s expense, such as installing grab bars or widening doorways, when those changes are necessary to fully use the home.¹² A landlord can require the work to be done professionally and can request an escrow deposit to restore the unit when the tenant moves out.

Landlords also must make reasonable accommodations in rules and policies. The most common example is assistance animals. Under federal fair housing rules, a housing provider must waive a no-pets policy or pet deposit for an assistance animal, including an emotional support animal, when a person with a disability makes a supported request. The animal does not have to be a trained service dog. The provider can deny the request only if the specific animal poses a direct safety threat or would cause significant property damage that no other accommodation could resolve.¹³

Filing Deadlines and Where to File

Employment discrimination complaints go to the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division. The general deadline is 180 days from the date of the discriminatory act. For sexual harassment specifically, the deadline is 300 days.¹⁴ Miss the deadline and the TWC will dismiss the complaint, so mark the calendar from the date of the last incident.

Before you contact the TWC, pull together:

The employer’s or housing provider’s full legal name and address. A complaint served on the wrong legal entity can stall the process.
A chronological account with specific dates and descriptions of each incident. Vague allegations rarely survive the agency’s initial review.
Comparison evidence showing how your treatment differed from that of coworkers or applicants outside your protected class.
Supporting documents: emails, text messages, performance reviews, disciplinary write-ups.
Names and contact details for witnesses.
Records of any internal HR complaints you filed.

Complaints can be submitted through the TWC’s website or mailed to its Austin office.¹⁵ Once a complaint is accepted, the TWC may offer voluntary mediation. If mediation is declined or fails, the agency investigates whether reasonable cause exists to believe discrimination occurred.

The TWC has a worksharing agreement with the federal EEOC, so a complaint filed with either agency is automatically cross-filed with the other.¹⁶ Because Texas has its own state anti-discrimination agency, the federal EEOC deadline extends from 180 days to 300 calendar days, and that extension applies to age claims filed by Texas residents as well.¹⁷ For ongoing harassment, you must file within 180 or 300 days of the last incident. The agency can then investigate related earlier incidents that fell outside the window.

Damages You Can Recover

When an employer is found to have violated Chapter 21, remedies include back pay, reinstatement, and compensatory and punitive damages. State law caps the combined total of compensatory and punitive damages based on the employer’s size:¹⁸

Fewer than 101 employees: $50,000
101 to 200 employees: $100,000
201 to 500 employees: $200,000
More than 500 employees: $300,000

The caps cover emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and punitive awards. They do not cover back pay or front pay, which are calculated separately. Courts can also order the employer to pay the employee’s attorney fees and court costs. For employer-size purposes, the company must have employed the required number of workers for at least 20 calendar weeks in the current or preceding year.¹⁸ Federal Title VII carries identical caps.¹⁹ If you pursue both state and federal claims from the same incident, you cannot collect twice for the same harm, but the overlap gives you strategic flexibility.

Housing discrimination remedies under the Texas Fair Housing Act include actual damages (out-of-pocket costs and emotional distress), injunctive relief to stop ongoing violations, and civil penalties. Certain violations also carry criminal penalties.

Getting to Court

Filing with the TWC is a prerequisite to a state court lawsuit. You cannot skip the administrative process. After the TWC issues a notice of your right to file a civil action, you have 60 days to bring suit.²⁰ That clock is firm. Miss it and your state-law claim is likely foreclosed.

Federal court runs through the EEOC. For Title VII and ADA claims, you need a Notice of Right to Sue from the EEOC before filing. The agency generally works on the charge for 180 days before issuing that notice, though it may issue one sooner in certain situations. Age discrimination claims under the ADEA are different: you can file a federal lawsuit 60 days after submitting a charge, without waiting for a right-to-sue letter.²¹

1
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 21.051 – Discrimination by Employer
2
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 21.402 – Discriminatory Use of Genetic Information Prohibited
3
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 21.056 – Aiding or Abetting Discrimination
4
ArentFox Schiff. EEOC Votes to Revoke 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace
5
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Harassment
6
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII
7
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
8
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 21.055 – Retaliation
9
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retaliation – Making it Personal
10
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Questions and Answers – Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues
11
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 301.021 – Sale or Rental
12
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 301.025
13
HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assistance Animals
14
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 21.202 – Statute of Limitations
15
Texas Workforce Commission. Civil Rights Division
16
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. How to File a Charge of Employment Discrimination
17
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits For Filing A Charge
18
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 21.2585 – Compensatory and Punitive Damages
19
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Remedies For Employment Discrimination
20
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 21.254 – Civil Action by Complainant
21
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Can Expect After You File a Charge