Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA)
Texas's principal employment discrimination statute, codified at Tex. Lab. Code Chapter 21. Prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, and disability. Generally tracks Title VII, ADA, and ADEA frameworks but with Texas-specific procedural elements. Administered by the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division (TWC-CRD); requires administrative exhaustion before suit. Filing deadline: 180 days (300 days for sexual harassment complaints). Damages caps parallel federal Civil Rights Act of 1991.
The Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA), codified as Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code, is Texas's principal employment discrimination statute. The TCHRA prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age (40+), and disability. The statute generally tracks Title VII, ADA, and ADEA frameworks but contains Texas-specific procedural and substantive elements. Administration was transferred from the Texas Commission on Human Rights to the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division (TWC-CRD) in 2004.
Coverage and protected classes
TCHRA generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees (matching Title VII; broader than ADEA's 20-employee threshold) and to counties, municipalities, state agencies and state instrumentalities regardless of size. § 21.002(8). Since September 1, 2021, the sexual harassment provisions reach any employer with one or more employees and anyone acting directly in an employer's interests. §§ 21.141, 21.142. Protected classes under § 21.051: race; color; sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, related conditions per § 21.106; Bostock held that Title VII reaches sexual orientation and gender identity, but the Texas Supreme Court has not decided whether § 21.051 does the same); national origin; religion; age (40 and older); disability. For age claims, the 15-employee threshold reaches employers with 15 to 19 employees that the ADEA does not cover.
Relationship to federal law
TCHRA generally tracks federal employment discrimination law: (1) elements, substantially similar to Title VII, ADA, ADEA; (2) burden-shifting framework, McDonnell Douglas analysis applied to TCHRA claims; (3) damages caps, TCHRA has its own structure mirroring federal Civil Rights Act of 1991 caps; (4) administrative exhaustion, required for TCHRA claims through TWC-CRD, parallel to EEOC for federal claims. Texas Supreme Court in NME Hospitals confirmed TCHRA standards generally follow federal precedent, but with Texas-specific differences in some procedural and damages provisions.
Administrative exhaustion
TCHRA claims require administrative exhaustion through TWC-CRD: (1) complaint filing within 180 days, or 300 days for sexual harassment (§ 21.202); (2) TWC-CRD investigation; (3) conciliation if reasonable cause found; (4) right-to-sue notice, which the complainant may request in writing after being notified that the complaint was not resolved within 180 days (§§ 21.208, 21.252); (5) suit within 60 days after receiving the notice (§ 21.254) and no later than two years after the complaint was filed (§ 21.256). Both deadlines apply. The Texas Supreme Court has held that the two-year deadline is mandatory but not jurisdictional, so a defendant must assert it timely or risk waiving it. In re United Servs. Auto. Ass'n, 307 S.W.3d 299 (Tex. 2010).
Damages and remedies
TCHRA damages structure (§ 21.2585): (1) compensatory damages for emotional distress; (2) punitive damages for malicious or reckless violations; (3) back pay and benefits; (4) front pay or reinstatement; (5) injunctive relief; (6) attorney's fees and costs. Damages caps under § 21.2585 vary by employer size: $50K (15-100 employees), $100K (101-200), $200K (201-500), $300K (more than 500), mirroring CRA 1991 caps for federal claims. The caps apply to combined compensatory and punitive damages; back pay, front pay, and equitable relief are not subject to caps.
The TWC-CRD work-share with EEOC
TWC-CRD and EEOC operate under a work-share agreement: charges filed with either agency are typically deemed filed with both. This provides several advantages: (1) extended deadline, TCHRA filing deadline is 180 days (300 for sexual harassment); the federal Title VII deadline in Texas is 300 days because a state agency has authority over the practice (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1)); (2) dual investigation; (3) reduced administrative burden. TCHRA complaints must be filed within 180 days, or 300 days for sexual harassment, and TWC must dismiss an untimely complaint. § 21.202.
Coordination with federal claims
Plaintiffs frequently file dual TCHRA and federal Title VII (or ADA, ADEA) claims. Coordination considerations: (1) different deadlines, TCHRA 180/60-day vs. Title VII 300/90-day; (2) different jurisdictions, TCHRA can be filed in state or federal court; Title VII typically federal court; (3) different elements, generally similar but with Texas-specific variations; (4) strategic considerations, state-court venue may be preferable in some cases.
TCHRA's substantive standards largely parallel federal law, but its procedural deadlines differ. Chapter 21 sets no release formalities of its own. The OWBPA conditions apply only to waiver of federal age claims. The 180-day complaint deadline (300 days for sexual harassment), the 60-day deadline after the right-to-sue notice and the two-year limit on suit run separately from the federal 300-day and 90-day periods, so a claimant can preserve a federal claim while losing the state claim.
Companion article: Before Firing an Employee