National Origin Discrimination in Maryland
National Origin Discrimination in Maryland: Your Rights Under State and Federal Law
If you work in Maryland, you’re protected from national origin discrimination under both federal law (Title VII) and the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA), codified at Md. Code Ann., State Gov’t § 20-606.
Maryland's Employer Coverage
Maryland’s FEPA applies to employers with 15 or more employees — the same threshold as Title VII, and narrower than DC’s 1-employee threshold. If your Maryland employer has fewer than 15 employees, FEPA’s protections likely won’t apply directly, though a federal law discussed below may still help.
If Your Employer Is Too Small for FEPA, the IRCA May Still Protect You
This is an important option for Maryland workers at small employers. The Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision — enforced by the Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), not the EEOC or MCCR — covers national origin discrimination claims against employers with just 4 to 14 employees, filling the exact gap FEPA and Title VII leave open. It also separately protects citizenship status and covers unfair documentary practices during the Form I-9 or E-Verify process. See our general national origin discrimination page for a full breakdown of how this federal law works.
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim in Maryland?
- Administrative complaint with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR): generally 300 days from the discriminatory act — extended from the previous 180-day (six-month) deadline by a 2021 law aligning Maryland’s deadline with the federal EEOC deadline.
- EEOC charge (for federal Title VII claims): also 300 days, since Maryland has a state agency enforcing its own anti-discrimination law — both deadlines now run in parallel.
- Harassment claims specifically: 2 years to file with MCCR, measured from the last incident of harassment.
- IER/IRCA claims (for employers with 4–14 employees): must generally be filed within 180 days of the discriminatory act — a separate, shorter deadline than the FEPA/Title VII path.
- Maryland generally requires exhausting the administrative process (MCCR or EEOC) before filing a civil lawsuit under FEPA — unlike DC, which allows filing directly in court.
What Counts as National Origin Discrimination in Maryland?
National origin discrimination can include:
- Refusal to hire, promote, or fairly compensate someone because of their national origin, ancestry, or accent
- English-only workplace rules that aren’t justified by business necessity
- Harassment based on national origin or ethnicity
- Retaliation against an employee who reports national origin discrimination
What Compensation Can You Recover?
- Reinstatement in your position
- Back pay and front pay
- Compensatory damages, including for emotional distress
- Punitive damages, if the employer acted with actual malice
- Attorney’s fees and litigation costs
Note on damages: Maryland’s compensatory and punitive damages under FEPA are generally capped at levels mirroring Title VII — ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 depending on employer size — narrower than the DCHRA’s uncapped damages available to DC workers. IER/IRCA claims follow a separate remedy structure.
Talk to a Maryland National Origin Discrimination Attorney
Maryland’s 300-day filing deadline is still considerably shorter than DC’s two-year court filing window, and if your employer is too small for FEPA to apply, the federal IRCA may offer a separate path worth exploring.