Delaware Workplace Harassment Laws: 4-Employee Rule, 300 Days

Sexual harassment of an employee is an unlawful employment practice in Delaware under 19 Del. C. § 711A(c), which applies to employers with 4 or more employees within the State, including the State itself (§ 711A(b)(6)). Harassment because of race, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and the other protected traits has no separate harassment clause; it falls under the general ban on discrimination "with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment" in § 711(b)(1).

Both rules sit in Delaware's Discrimination in Employment Act, Subchapter II of Title 19, Chapter 7, and charges go to the Delaware Department of Labor. Section 711A is unusual in writing the employer-responsibility rules into the statute and in requiring training for employers with 50 or more employees. For other states, see workplace harassment laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-20. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Delaware state law on workplace harassment by employers, supervisors and coworkers under the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act, 19 Del. C. Chapter 7, Subchapter II, chiefly §§ 710, 711, 711A, 712, 714, 715 and 716. It does not cover wrongful firing or the full charge and lawsuit procedure (see Delaware wrongful termination), disability discrimination under Subchapter III, damages estimates, criminal harassment or stalking, harassment outside employment, or federal-employee procedure.

Delaware harassment rules at a glance

What Delaware law prohibits

Delaware handles workplace harassment on two tracks. Sexual harassment has its own section, § 711A, added in 2018. Harassment on every other protected trait runs through the general discrimination clause in § 711.

Sexual harassment: § 711A

Section 711A(c) states the rule and the definition together:

"Sexual harassment of an employee is an unlawful employment practice when the employee is subjected to conduct that includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: (1) Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an employee's employment; (2) Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting an employee; or (3) Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an employee's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment." (19 Del. C. § 711A(c))

Parts (1) and (2) describe quid pro quo harassment, where job decisions turn on submission to sexual conduct. Part (3) describes a hostile working environment. The statute sets no separate frequency or severity threshold beyond that language.

Harassment on other traits: § 711(b)(1)

For race, age, religion and the other listed traits, Subchapter II has no clause that uses the word harassment. A harassment claim on those grounds rests on § 711(b)(1), which makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to "discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment" because of a listed trait. The subchapter contains no definition of harassment on those traits or of the standard that applies to it.

Which Delaware employers are covered

For sexual harassment, § 711A(b)(6) defines "employer" as "any person employing 4 or more employees within the State at the time of the alleged violation," including "the State, the General Assembly, state agencies and labor organizations." The general definition in § 710(7) uses the same 4-employee line and includes "the State or any political subdivision or board, department, commission or school district thereof." In Delaware, the harassment threshold and the discrimination threshold are the same: 4 or more employees.

Training has a different line: 50 or more employees in Delaware (see the training section below).

Who is protected

Section 711A has its own definition of employee: "an individual employed by an employer and includes state employees, unpaid interns, applicants, joint employees and apprentices" (§ 711A(b)(4)).

The general definition in § 710(6), which governs the rest of the subchapter, is narrower. It does not include an individual employed in agriculture or in domestic service, an individual who resides in the employer's personal residence as part of the employment, an individual employed by the individual's parents, spouse or child, or an individual elected to public office. Section 711A does not repeat those exclusions in its own definition.

Protected traits in Delaware

Section 711(b)(1) lists race, marital status, genetic information, color, age, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, military status and housing status. Other provisions shape and extend that list:

• Age: "'Age' means the age of 40 or more years of age" (§ 710(1)).
• Hair texture and protective hairstyles: "'Race' includes traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and a protective hairstyle" (§ 710(22)), and "protective hairstyle" "includes braids, locks, and twists" (§ 710(20)).
• Victims of domestic violence, a sexual offense or stalking: § 711(i)(1)a. bars discrimination in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment "because the individual was the victim of domestic violence, a sexual offense, or stalking."
• Reproductive health decisions: § 711(k) bars discrimination in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment "because of a reproductive health decision by the individual."
• Family responsibilities: § 711(l)(1) bars discrimination in compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of an individual's family responsibilities (the obligation to care for a family member who would qualify as a covered family member under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, § 710(9)), "except with respect to the employer's attendance and absenteeism standards that are not protected by other applicable law and inasmuch as the employee's performance at work meets satisfactory standards." It creates no obligation to make special accommodations, "so long as all policies related to leave, scheduling, absenteeism, work performance, and benefits are applied in a nondiscriminatory manner" (§ 711(l)(2)).
• Disability: disability discrimination is addressed in a separate subchapter, Subchapter III of Chapter 7 (§§ 720-728).

Employer responsibility under § 711A

Section 711A writes the employer-responsibility rules for sexual harassment into the statute. Under § 711A(d), "an employer is responsible for sexual harassment of an employee when":

"(1) A supervisor's sexual harassment results in a negative employment action of an employee; (2) The employer knew or should have known of the non-supervisory employee's sexual harassment of an employee and failed to take appropriate corrective measures; or (3) A negative employment action is taken against an employee in retaliation for the employee filing a discrimination charge, participating in an investigation of sexual harassment, or testifying in any proceeding or lawsuit about the sexual harassment of an employee." (19 Del. C. § 711A(d))

A "negative employment action" is "an action taken by a supervisor that negatively impacts the employment status of an employee" (§ 711A(b)(11)).

The statute gives employers a defense only for the second category. "In any action against an employer under paragraph (d)(2) of this section, it is an affirmative defense if the employer proves that: (1) The employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct any harassment promptly; and (2) The employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by the employer" (§ 711A(e)). Both elements are joined by "and," and the defense does not apply to the supervisor or retaliation categories.

Can the harasser be sued personally?

The harassment rules in § 711A are written in terms of the employer: the unlawful practice is the employer's, and § 711A(d) states when "an employer is responsible." The statute does not address whether an individual supervisor or coworker who harasses can be held personally liable under the act.

Retaliation for complaining

Section 711(g) makes it an unlawful employment practice for "any employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee" to discharge, refuse to hire or otherwise discriminate against a person "because such person has opposed any practice prohibited by this subchapter or because such person has testified, assisted or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing to enforce the provisions of this subchapter." In an action brought by the Department for a violation of § 711(g), "the Court shall fine the employer not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 for each violation, in addition to any liability for damages" (§ 715(d)). How a firing after a complaint fits with Delaware's default employment rule is covered on the Delaware at-will employment and Delaware wrongful termination pages.

Deadlines and where to file

The Delaware Department of Labor takes charges under the act. Subchapter II "shall afford the sole remedy for claims alleging a violation of this chapter to the exclusion of all other remedies" (§ 712(b)), and a charge comes first. Harassment charges follow the same deadline as other discrimination charges.

• Charge with the Department of Labor: "Any person claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this chapter shall first file a charge of discrimination within 300 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice or its discovery" (§ 712(c)(1)a.). The charge is a concise written statement of facts, signed by the charging party and sworn to under the statute's verification requirement. A charge "is deemed filed on the date it is sent to the Department by physical or electronic submission."
• Court deadline: the Delaware Right to Sue Notice authorizes suit in Superior Court "within 90 days of its receipt or within 90 days of receipt of a federal Right to Sue Notice, whichever is later" (§ 714(b)).
• One forum: "A charging party is barred by this election of remedies from filing cases in both Superior Court and the federal forum" (§ 714(c)).
• Federal charge: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to employers with 15 or more employees for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks (42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b)), and the EEOC states that its "180 calendar day filing deadline is extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis." The EEOC's Philadelphia District Office, which lists the Delaware Department of Labor as a fair employment practices agency, states that an individual has 300 days from the date of alleged harm to file a charge against a Delaware employer with 15 or more employees for discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion or disability.

The full procedure between charge and suit is on the Delaware wrongful termination page, along with remedies and the damages caps by employer size in § 715(c). The Delaware employment discrimination settlement calculator is an estimating tool, not a prediction of any outcome.

Harassment training, information sheet and posters

Training: employers with 50 or more employees

Section 711A(g) applies to "an employer having 50 or more employees in Delaware." Such an employer "shall provide interactive training and education to employees regarding the prevention of sexual harassment" on this schedule:

• New employees: "within 1 year of the commencement of employment and thereafter every 2 years."
• Existing employees: by January 1, 2020, "and thereafter every 2 years."
• Supervisors: "additional interactive training to all supervisors," to new supervisors "within 1 year of the commencement of employment as a supervisor, and thereafter every 2 years," and to existing supervisors by January 1, 2020 and every 2 years after.

Applicants and independent contractors do not count toward the 50-employee threshold (§ 711A(g)(6)a.), and employment agencies are the only employers that count and train employees they place (§ 711A(g)(6)c.). "Employers are not required to provide training under this subsection to applicants, independent contractors, or employees employed less than 6 months continuously" (§ 711A(g)(6)b.). Section 711A(g)(3) lists what the training covers, including the illegality of sexual harassment, its definition with examples, the remedies and complaint process, how to contact the Department, and the prohibition on retaliation.

Section 711A does not set a fine for failing to train.

Information sheet: every covered employer

Section 711A(f) applies to every employer covered by the sexual harassment section, not only those with 50 or more employees. "Every employer shall distribute, physically or electronically, the information sheet" prepared by the Department "to new employees at the commencement of employment" (and to existing employees by July 1, 2019). Failing to distribute the sheet does not "in and of itself result in liability," and distributing it "does not insulate the employer from liability for sexual harassment" (§ 711A(f)(4)).

Workplace notice

Every employer must "post and keep posted in conspicuous places upon its premises" a notice prepared or approved by the Department summarizing the subchapter and how to file a complaint (§ 716(a)). "A wilful violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $100 for each separate offense" (§ 716(c)).

Delaware's law on employer-sponsored meetings on political or religious matters does not stop required harassment training: § 711B(d)(5) excludes "an employer requiring employees to undergo training to comply with the employer's legal obligations, including obligations under civil rights laws and occupational safety and health laws."

NDAs, confidentiality and settlements

Title 19, Chapter 7 (Employment Practices), whose Subchapters II and III hold Delaware's employment discrimination law, contains no provision limiting nondisclosure or confidentiality terms in private employment or settlement agreements about harassment. The confidentiality rule in § 712(c)(4) concerns the Department's own process.

Federal law adds limits for sexual harassment disputes: the Speak Out Act makes nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses agreed to before a sexual harassment dispute arises judicially unenforceable where the conduct is alleged to violate federal, tribal or state law, and the Ending Forced Arbitration Act lets the person alleging sexual harassment elect court over a predispute arbitration agreement, both explained on the workplace harassment laws hub.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Delaware?

Subchapter II of Title 19, Chapter 7 reaches sexual harassment and discrimination tied to the traits it lists. It contains no provision on general workplace bullying that is unconnected to those traits, such as hostility aimed at an employee for reasons unrelated to sex, race, age or another protected trait.

Documenting harassment and workplace monitoring

Delaware's rules on recording a conversation at work, including a conversation with a harasser, are on the Delaware workplace recording laws page. Employer monitoring of email, devices and workspaces is covered on the Delaware employee monitoring laws page.

Recent changes to Delaware harassment law

• 2018: 81 Del. Laws, c. 399 added § 711A, with the sexual harassment definition, the employer-responsibility rules, the information sheet and the 50-employee training mandate. Existing employees and supervisors had to be trained by January 1, 2020.
• 2025: 85 Del. Laws, c. 104 and c. 142 are the latest amendments to §§ 710 and 711; chapter 104 concerns military status.

Related pages

• Workplace harassment laws by state
• Delaware wrongful termination
• Delaware at-will employment laws
• Delaware employee monitoring laws
• Delaware workplace recording laws

This article provides general legal information about Delaware workplace harassment law under the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act, 19 Del. C. Chapter 7, as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Delaware or the Delaware Department of Labor.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is sexual harassment illegal in Delaware workplaces?

Yes. Under 19 Del. C. § 711A(c), sexual harassment of an employee is an unlawful employment practice, covering quid pro quo conduct and conduct that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

How many employees does an employer need for Delaware harassment law to apply?

Four or more employees within Delaware at the time of the alleged violation (§ 711A(b)(6) for sexual harassment; § 710(7) for the rest of the act). The State, the General Assembly and state agencies are included for sexual harassment, and the State and its political subdivisions for the rest of the act.

How long do you have to file a harassment charge in Delaware?

A charge of discrimination must be filed with the Delaware Department of Labor within 300 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice or its discovery (§ 712(c)(1)a.). After a Delaware Right to Sue Notice issues, suit in Superior Court must be filed within 90 days of receipt of that notice or of a federal Right to Sue Notice, whichever is later (§ 714(b)).

Does Delaware require sexual harassment training?

Employers with 50 or more employees in Delaware must provide interactive sexual harassment prevention training to new employees within 1 year of starting and every 2 years after, and additional interactive training to supervisors within 1 year of becoming a supervisor and every 2 years after (§ 711A(g)). Applicants and independent contractors do not count toward the 50, and training is not required for applicants, independent contractors or employees employed less than 6 months continuously.

Is an employer responsible when a supervisor harasses an employee in Delaware?

Under § 711A(d)(1), an employer is responsible for sexual harassment when a supervisor's sexual harassment results in a negative employment action of an employee. The affirmative defense in § 711A(e) applies only to claims about non-supervisory employees' harassment under § 711A(d)(2).

Are unpaid interns protected from sexual harassment in Delaware?

Yes. For the sexual harassment section, 'employee' includes state employees, unpaid interns, applicants, joint employees and apprentices (§ 711A(b)(4)).

Does Delaware limit NDAs in harassment settlements?

Title 19, Chapter 7, whose Subchapters II and III hold Delaware's employment discrimination law, contains no provision limiting nondisclosure or confidentiality terms in private employment or settlement agreements about harassment.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Delaware?

Subchapter II of Title 19, Chapter 7 reaches sexual harassment and discrimination tied to the traits it lists. It contains no provision on general workplace bullying that is unconnected to those traits.