A right to sue letter is official written notice that you may file a lawsuit, usually after an agency has finished handling a discrimination charge.

"Official written notice" matters because not every email, phone call, or agency update starts the clock. In most workplace discrimination cases, the letter comes from the EEOC and is formally called a Notice of Right to Sue. "You may file a lawsuit" means the agency is not deciding you win; it is giving you permission to take the claim to court under laws such as Title VII, the ADA, or GINA. "After an agency has finished handling a charge" is the trap people miss: before suing under many federal anti-discrimination laws, you usually must first file an administrative charge of discrimination.

The deadline attached to the letter is where people get burned. Under federal law, a lawsuit generally must be filed within 90 days after you receive the EEOC notice. Miss that window, and even a strong harassment, retaliation, or wrongful termination case can be thrown out. In South Carolina, charges are often cross-filed through the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission and the EEOC because of their work-sharing arrangement, but the federal 90-day deadline still demands close attention.

A right to sue letter can make or break leverage in settlement talks. Without it, an employer may argue the case is premature; with it, delay becomes dangerous.