Mississippi Workplace Harassment Laws: No State Statute (2026)

Mississippi has no state law that prohibits workplace harassment by private employers. It has no general fair-employment act and no state civil-rights agency for private-sector complaints, so harassment claims against private employers are brought under federal law, chiefly Title VII. The general nondiscrimination statute in Mississippi's state personnel law, Miss. Code 25-9-149, is a statement of legislative intent limited to state service.

For the federal rules and a comparison of every state, see workplace harassment laws by state. This page covers what Mississippi's own statutes contain and what they leave to federal law.

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

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Mississippi state law bearing on workplace harassment: Miss. Code 25-9-149 (state service), the Mississippi Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (2022 House Bill 770), the court-protection fee rule in Miss. Code 11-13-41, the State Employee Handbook's workplace-harassment rule (state employees only), and the harassment bills of the 2025 and 2026 regular sessions. It does not cover wrongful firing or the full charge and lawsuit procedure (see Mississippi wrongful termination), damages estimates, other State Personnel Board rules, local ordinances, tort claims under general Mississippi law, harassment outside employment, or federal-employee procedure.

Mississippi harassment rules at a glance

What Mississippi law contains

Mississippi's Code has no counterpart to the fair-employment acts most states use to reach harassment: no statute makes harassment or discrimination by a private employer an unlawful practice, and none defines a hostile work environment or sets a standard for one.

State service. The state-service section that lists protected traits reads:

"It is the intent of the Legislature that no person seeking employment in state service, as defined in Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, or employed in state service, as defined in Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or handicap." (Miss. Code 25-9-149)

"State service" means "all employees of state departments, agencies and institutions as defined herein, except those officers and employees excluded by this chapter" (Miss. Code 25-9-107). Section 25-9-149 does not mention harassment and states no remedy, enforcing agency or filing deadline, and it does not reach private employers.

State employees under the State Personnel Board. The Mississippi State Employee Handbook (effective July 1, 2026) provides that "Each appointing authority must take appropriate steps to provide a professional workplace free from any type of harassment," and that "A harasser can be a supervisor, agent of the employer, co-worker, or a non-employee." An appointing authority's reasonable care "should include, but not be limited to, establishing and implementing an anti-harassment policy," and "After receiving notice of a possible violation of policy, the agency must take prompt action reasonably calculated to end the alleged harassment and conduct a thorough investigation" (sec. 5.7). Employees are told to report harassment to an agency administrator; "If an agency appointing authority is the source of the alleged harassment, the victim may report the harassing behavior directly to the Executive Director of the MSPB" (sec. 5.7). These are personnel rules for state employees, not a law that covers private employers.

Equal pay. The Mississippi Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, 2022 House Bill 770 (approved by the Governor on April 20, 2022), defines an employer as "any person who employs five (5) or more employees" and provides that "No employer may pay an employee a wage at a rate less than the rate at which an employee of the opposite sex in the same establishment is paid for equal work on a job" meeting the conditions the Act sets out. Its retaliation clause protects action "to invoke or assist in any manner the enforcement of this act," and a civil action "may be commenced no later than two (2) years from the day the employee knew or should have known his or her employer was in violation of this act" (HB 770, secs. 2-4). The Act defines an employee as one "employed to work forty (40) or more hours a week," and "An employee who seeks relief under this act must first waive any right to relief under the Equal Pay Act of 1963" (HB 770, secs. 2(a), 4(2)). The Act addresses pay, not harassment, and its five-employee threshold is not a harassment threshold.

Because no Mississippi statute creates a harassment claim against a private employer, state law also has no rule for private employers on employer liability for supervisors or coworkers, on suing an individual harasser, on non-employee coverage, or on retaliation for a harassment complaint.

Bills that did not become law

The Legislature has considered a state harassment remedy and did not enact one:

• 2026: HB 251, "Sexual harassment; create a state cause of action," died in committee on February 3, 2026. HB 1141, "Trey's Law; create to prohibit nondisclosure agreements by sex abuse survivors," died in committee the same day.
• 2025: HB 428, "Sexual harassment; create a state cause of action," died in committee on February 4, 2025. HB 322, "The Crown Act; create to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles in workplace and schools," died in committee the same day, as did two other CROWN Act bills, HB 365 and HB 477.

Mississippi therefore has no CROWN Act on hairstyle discrimination in employment.

Private employees: federal law is the route

For a private Mississippi workplace, the harassment rules that apply are federal. Title VII reaches an employer with "fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year" (42 U.S.C. 2000e(b)). Under the EEOC's general rule, "you need to file a charge within 180 calendar days from the day the discrimination took place," and "The 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." Mississippi has no state agency of that kind. The EEOC's Birmingham District Office, which covers Mississippi, states: "In the State of Mississippi, an individual has 180 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." The same office gives 180 days for age charges against employers with 20 or more employees.

The federal hostile-environment standard, employer liability, the federal limits on harassment NDAs and arbitration, and federal damages caps are explained on the workplace harassment laws hub. Charge-to-lawsuit steps and remedies are covered on the Mississippi wrongful termination page, and the Mississippi employment discrimination settlement calculator is an estimating tool, not a prediction of any outcome.

Training, policies, NDAs and arbitration

The Mississippi statutes covered on this page contain no requirement that a private employer train employees on harassment or adopt or post a harassment policy, and no limit on nondisclosure, confidentiality or mandatory-arbitration terms in agreements or settlements involving harassment claims. Federal law sets its own limits for sexual harassment disputes, explained on the hub.

Court protection from stalking or sexual assault

Where workplace conduct amounts to stalking or sexual assault as Mississippi's criminal code defines them, a court-protection route exists outside employment law. A victim of stalking or sexual assault "who files an action seeking injunctive relief preventing violent or threatening acts or harassment against, or contact or communication with or physical proximity to the victim against the perpetrator of that offense, shall not be assessed any fees related to the filing of such request, the issuance of any process of court or the issuance of any order providing such protection" (Miss. Code 11-13-41(1)). Stalking under Miss. Code 97-3-107 requires a course of conduct directed at a specific person, or a credible threat, that the person knows or should know "would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her own safety, to fear for the safety of another person, or to fear damage or destruction of his or her property."

Is workplace bullying illegal in Mississippi?

The Mississippi statutes covered here contain no general workplace-bullying provision for private employers. A 2025 comprehensive anti-bullying bill, HB 975, concerned schools and died.

Documenting harassment and workplace monitoring

The rules on recording a conversation at work, including a conversation with a harasser, are on the Mississippi workplace recording laws page. A firing after a complaint, and Mississippi's default employment rule, are covered on the Mississippi at-will employment page.

Related pages

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

This article provides general legal information about Mississippi workplace harassment law as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Mississippi or the EEOC.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is workplace harassment illegal in Mississippi?

Mississippi has no state statute that prohibits workplace harassment by private employers. Private-sector harassment claims are brought under federal law, chiefly Title VII, which covers employers with 15 or more employees.

Does Mississippi have a state agency for discrimination complaints?

Mississippi has no state civil-rights or fair-employment agency that takes private-sector discrimination or harassment complaints. Federal charges go to the EEOC; its Birmingham District Office states that in Mississippi a charge is due within 180 days from the date of alleged harm.

Does Mississippi law protect state employees from discrimination?

Miss. Code 25-9-149 states the Legislature's intent that no person seeking or holding employment in state service be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or handicap. The section states no remedy, agency or filing deadline. The State Personnel Board's State Employee Handbook (effective July 1, 2026) requires each appointing authority to take appropriate steps to provide a workplace free from harassment and, after notice, to take prompt action and investigate (sec. 5.7).

Did Mississippi pass a sexual harassment law in 2025 or 2026?

No. House Bill 428 (2025) and House Bill 251 (2026), each titled to create a state cause of action for sexual harassment, died in committee.

Does Mississippi require sexual harassment training for employers?

The Mississippi statutes covered on this page contain no harassment-training or written-policy requirement for private employers.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Mississippi?

The Mississippi statutes covered on this page contain no general workplace-bullying provision for private employers. A 2025 comprehensive anti-bullying bill, HB 975, concerned schools and died.