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  1. HHS
  2. Civil Rights Home
  3. Filing a Complaint
  • Filing a Civil Rights Complaint
    • Complaint Process
    • File a Complaint Online
    • What to Expect

Filing a Civil Rights Complaint

If you believe that you have been discriminated against because of your race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or religion in programs or activities that HHS directly operates or to which HHS provides federal financial assistance, you may file a complaint with OCR. You may file a complaint for yourself or for someone else.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against because of your disability by a State or local government health care or social services agency, you may file a complaint with the OCR. You may file a complaint for yourself or for someone else.

Do you have a complaint about housing, law enforcement, labor, education or employment discrimination?  OCR does not generally investigate these types of complaints. Find other Federal civil rights agencies that can help you.

NOTE:  In accordance with the Office for Personnel Management's and CDC's guidelines on COVID 19, HHS personnel are teleworking.  OCR is committed to handling your complaint as quickly as possible.  However, for faster processing, we strongly encourage you to use the OCR online portal to file complaints rather than filing via mail, as our personnel on site is limited.

Complaint Process

Learn about the process of submitting a civil rights complaint against a health care or social service provider.

File a Complaint Online

File your complaint electronically via the OCR Complaint Portal.

What to Expect

Find out the next steps after you have submitted your complaint to OCR.

Laws and Regulations Enforced by OCR

Nondiscrimination regulations and laws enforced by OCR.

Civil Rights FAQs

Read frequently asked questions about civil rights.

Content created by Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
Content last reviewed March 17, 2020
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