Kentucky Workplace Harassment Laws: 8-Employee Rule, 180 Days

Workplace harassment is unlawful in Kentucky when it is discrimination because of a protected trait: the Kentucky Civil Rights Act makes it an unlawful practice for an employer "to discriminate against an individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment" because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age 40 and over, disability or smoker status (KRS 344.040(1)(a)). The Act has no separate harassment clause, and the Kentucky Supreme Court asks whether the conduct was "sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment" (Meyers v. Chapman Printing Co., 840 S.W.2d 814 (Ky. 1992)).

The Act reaches employers with eight or more employees within Kentucky, with a 15-employee line for disability claims (KRS 344.030(2)). Complaints go to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights within 180 days, or an employee may sue in circuit court instead. 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 Kentucky state law on workplace harassment by employers, supervisors and coworkers under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, KRS Chapter 344, chiefly KRS 344.020, 344.030, 344.040, 344.200, 344.270, 344.280 and 344.450, plus KRS 413.115 and 7.101 and the commission's regulations 104 KAR 1:010 and 1:050. It does not cover wrongful firing or the full complaint and lawsuit procedure (see Kentucky wrongful termination), damages estimates, criminal harassment or stalking, harassment outside employment, or federal-employee procedure.

Kentucky harassment rules at a glance

What Kentucky law prohibits

Chapter 344 does not use the word harassment in its employment sections and does not define sexual harassment. The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights' regulation 104 KAR 1:050 directs the commission to "follow and enforce" the EEOC's sex-discrimination guidelines, including 29 C.F.R. 1604.11. That guideline treats unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature as sexual harassment when submission is made a term or condition of employment, when submission or rejection is used as the basis for employment decisions, or when the conduct "has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment."

In the statute itself, the operative clause is KRS 344.040(1)(a), which makes it an unlawful practice for an employer:

"To fail or refuse to hire, or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against an individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of the individual's race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age forty (40) and over, because the person is a qualified individual with a disability, or because the individual is a smoker or nonsmoker, as long as the person complies with any workplace policy concerning smoking;" (KRS 344.040(1)(a))

The Act is written to track federal law. Its first stated purpose is "to provide for execution within the state of the policies embodied in the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964," together with the federal age and disability acts, and the chapter "shall be construed to further the general purposes stated in this section" (KRS 344.020(1)(a), (2)). The same section names a further purpose: to protect individuals' "interest in personal dignity and freedom from humiliation."

The hostile work environment standard in Kentucky

The severe-or-pervasive test comes from the courts, not from the statute. In Meyers v. Chapman Printing Co., a sexual harassment case, the Kentucky Supreme Court noted that both sides agreed the Act's language "tracks the federal law and should be interpreted consonant with federal interpretation." It framed the question as "whether there was evidence from which the fact-finder could reasonably believe in the circumstances of this case that the employer's conduct was 'sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment.' If so, there was a submissible issue."

Chapter 344 contains no text that loosens or replaces that standard. How the federal courts apply it is covered on the workplace harassment laws hub.

Which Kentucky employers are covered

KRS 344.030(2) is long and layered. Its opening clause sets the general rule:

"'Employer' means a person who has eight (8) or more employees within the state in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year and an agent of such a person, except for purposes of determining accommodations for an employee's own limitations related to her pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, employer means a person who has fifteen (15) or more employees within the state in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year and any agent of the person, and, except for purposes of determining discrimination based on disability, employer means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen (15) or more employees for each working day in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of that person..." (KRS 344.030(2))

The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights summarizes the result this way: "Kentucky employers with eight (8) or more employees within the state in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year are covered, except where an employer is charged with disability discrimination, in which case only employers with fifteen (15) or more employees are covered by the Act."

On the commission's reading, a harassment complaint based on sex, race, religion, national origin or age uses the eight-employee line, and a disability-based complaint uses 15.

Who counts as an employee

The Act defines "employee" as "an individual employed by an employer," but it "does not include an individual employed by his parents, spouse, or child, or an individual employed to render services as a domestic in the home of the employer" (KRS 344.030(5)(a)). Chapter 344 contains no clause extending these protections to independent contractors, volunteers or other non-employees.

Protected traits under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act

KRS 344.040(1)(a) protects employees and applicants on these grounds:

• Race and color
• Religion
• National origin
• Sex
• Age forty and over
• Status as a qualified individual with a disability
• Being a smoker or nonsmoker, "as long as the person complies with any workplace policy concerning smoking"

The Act also requires employers to give new employees written notice of "the right to be free from discrimination in relation to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, including the right to reasonable accommodations," and to post that notice conspicuously where employees can see it (KRS 344.040(3)).

The employment section does not list sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, genetic information, military status, or hair texture and protective hairstyles. The commission's FAQ answers the question "I believe I have been discriminated against based on my sexual orientation/gender identity. Can I file a claim with KCHR?" with "Yes." That is the agency's stated intake position; the statute's list itself is unchanged.

Employer responsibility and individual liability

The unlawful practice in KRS 344.040 runs against "an employer." Chapter 344 itself does not sort employer responsibility by whether the harasser was a supervisor, a coworker or a customer. Under the federal guideline the commission enforces (104 KAR 1:050; 29 C.F.R. 1604.11(d), (e)), an employer is responsible for sexual harassment between fellow employees where it or its agents or supervisory employees knew or should have known of the conduct, unless it shows it took immediate and appropriate corrective action. It may also be responsible for sexual harassment of employees by non-employees on the same knowledge standard when it fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.

Individuals enter through a separate section. KRS 344.280 makes it "an unlawful practice for a person, or for two (2) or more persons to conspire... (2) To aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce a person to engage in any of the acts or practices declared unlawful by this chapter." The chapter defines "person" to include "one (1) or more individuals" (KRS 344.010(1)). The text therefore reaches an individual through aiding and abetting, not through KRS 344.040 itself. How Kentucky courts apply KRS 344.280 to a supervisor or coworker is a question for case law that this page does not summarize.

Retaliation for complaining

KRS 344.280(1) makes it unlawful for a person "to retaliate or discriminate in any manner against a person because he has opposed a practice declared unlawful by this chapter, or because he has made a charge, filed a complaint, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in any investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this chapter." How a firing after a complaint fits with Kentucky's default employment rule is covered on the Kentucky at-will employment page.

Deadlines and where to file

Kentucky gives two routes, and the Act keeps them separate.

• Commission complaint: a "written sworn complaint" filed with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, which "must be filed within one hundred eighty (180) days after the alleged unlawful practice occurs" (KRS 344.200(1)). The commission's intake process starts with an inquiry; if the matter is within its jurisdiction, the commission sends a complaint form, which the complainant must "sign the form and have it notarized before returning it to us by mail or fax."
• Circuit court: "Any person injured by any act in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall have a civil cause of action in Circuit Court" (KRS 344.450). No commission filing is required first.
• Court deadline: since July 15, 2024, "An action for a violation of KRS 344.030 to 344.110 or 344.372" must be commenced "within three (3) years after the cause of action accrued" (KRS 413.115(2)). That section names the employment sections; it does not name the retaliation and aiding-and-abetting section, KRS 344.280. The 2024 act that created KRS 413.115 does not say it applies to claims that accrued before July 15, 2024, and KRS 446.080(3) provides that "[n]o statute shall be construed to be retroactive, unless expressly so declared." Before the change, the Kentucky Supreme Court applied the five-year period of KRS 413.120(2) to civil rights claims (Ammerman v. Board of Education of Nicholas County, 30 S.W.3d 793 (Ky. 2000)).
• One forum at a time: the commission "shall not take jurisdiction over any claim" while a court claim by the same person for the same grievance is pending, and a state court "shall not take jurisdiction" while the same claim is pending before the commission (KRS 344.270).
• Choosing a route: a final determination by a state court or a final commission order on the claim excludes any other administrative proceeding by the same person based on the same grievance (KRS 344.270). The Kentucky Supreme Court has held that Chapter 344 "authorizes alternative avenues of relief, one administrative and one judicial," that the administrative avenue includes either the Kentucky commission or a local commission, and that "[o]nce any avenue of relief is chosen, the complainant must follow that avenue through to its final conclusion" (Vaezkoroni v. Domino's Pizza, Inc., 914 S.W.2d 341 (Ky. 1995)).
• Federal charge: federal Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees (42 U.S.C. 2000e(b)). The EEOC's Louisville office states that an individual "has 300 days from the date of alleged harm to file a charge with this office against an employer with 15 or more employees for discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, and/or disability in the Commonwealth of Kentucky" (20 or more employees for age). The EEOC also states that in harassment cases the charge is due "within 180 or 300 days of the last incident of harassment."
• Local commissions: the EEOC lists the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission and the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Human Relations Commission as local fair employment practice agencies in Kentucky. For charges against employers below the federal thresholds, it gives the state and local filing limits as "180 days in Kentucky and Lexington-Fayette, and 90 days in Louisville-Jefferson County."

The full procedure, including how the commission process and a lawsuit interact after a firing, is on the Kentucky wrongful termination page, which also covers remedies. The Kentucky employment discrimination settlement calculator is an estimating tool, not a prediction of any outcome.

Training and written policies

Chapter 344 imposes no harassment training or written-policy requirement on private employers. Its notice duties are the pregnancy-rights notice in KRS 344.040(3) and, under the commission's regulation 104 KAR 1:010, posting equal employment opportunity notices such as the commission's Equal Employment Opportunity Poster.

KRS 7.101 requires training for legislators: "The Legislative Research Commission shall require all members of the General Assembly to attend a sexual and workplace harassment training course to be held at the beginning of each session of the General Assembly" (KRS 7.101).

Separately, health facilities must develop an internal reporting system for acts of workplace violence, which the chapter defines to include harassment, and must train health care workers on the proper reporting procedure (KRS 216.701(5), 216.709(1)).

NDAs, confidentiality and arbitration

Chapter 344 contains no provision limiting nondisclosure, confidentiality or arbitration terms in harassment agreements or settlements. Its confidentiality rule in KRS 344.200(4) governs the commission's own staff, who may not publicize conciliation efforts without consent; it does not regulate private agreements. Federal law adds limits for sexual harassment disputes through the Speak Out Act and the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, both explained on the workplace harassment laws hub.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Kentucky?

KRS 344.040 reaches discrimination because of the traits it lists. Chapter 344 contains no provision on general workplace bullying that is not tied to one of those traits, such as hostility aimed at an employee for reasons unrelated to race, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability or smoker status.

Documenting harassment and workplace monitoring

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

Recent changes to Kentucky harassment law

• 2019: the Kentucky Pregnant Workers Act (2019 Ky. Acts ch. 200) amended KRS 344.030 and 344.040, adding the 15-employee threshold for pregnancy accommodation and the pregnancy-rights notice duty, effective June 27, 2019.
• 2024: 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 157 created KRS 413.115, setting a three-year limit for actions for violations of KRS 344.030 to 344.110, effective July 15, 2024.

Related pages

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

This article provides general legal information about Kentucky workplace harassment law under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, KRS Chapter 344, as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Kentucky or the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is workplace harassment illegal in Kentucky?

Harassment because of a protected trait is reached by KRS 344.040(1)(a), which bars an employer from discriminating with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age 40 and over, disability or smoker status. The Kentucky Supreme Court applies a severe-or-pervasive test (Meyers v. Chapman Printing Co., 1992).

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

Eight or more employees within Kentucky in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (KRS 344.030(2)). The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights applies a 15-employee threshold when the charge is disability discrimination.

How long do you have to file a harassment complaint in Kentucky?

A sworn complaint with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights must be filed within 180 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurs (KRS 344.200(1)). A circuit court action for a violation of KRS 344.030 to 344.110 must be brought within three years after the cause of action accrued (KRS 413.115(2), effective July 15, 2024); the 2024 act does not say it applies to claims that accrued before that date. The EEOC's Louisville office gives 300 days from the date of alleged harm for a federal charge against an employer with 15 or more employees.

Can you sue in court without going to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights?

KRS 344.450 gives any person injured by a violation of Chapter 344 a civil cause of action in circuit court, with no commission filing required first. KRS 344.270 bars the commission and a state court from hearing the same person's claim for the same grievance at the same time. The Kentucky Supreme Court has held that once a complainant chooses the administrative or the judicial avenue, the complainant must follow that avenue through to its final conclusion (Vaezkoroni v. Domino's Pizza, Inc., 1995).

Does Kentucky law protect against harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity?

KRS 344.040 does not list sexual orientation or gender identity. The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights states in its FAQ that it will accept a claim based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Does Kentucky require sexual harassment training for private employers?

Chapter 344 does not. KRS 7.101 requires members of the General Assembly to attend a sexual and workplace harassment training course at the beginning of each session.

Is it illegal to retaliate against an employee for reporting harassment in Kentucky?

KRS 344.280(1) makes it unlawful for a person to retaliate or discriminate in any manner against someone who opposed a practice the chapter declares unlawful, or who made a charge, filed a complaint, testified, assisted, or participated in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under the chapter.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Kentucky?

Chapter 344 reaches discrimination tied to the traits it lists, such as sex, race and religion. It contains no provision on general workplace bullying unconnected to those traits.