Nebraska Workplace Harassment Law: 15-Employee Rule, 300 Days (2026)

Workplace harassment is expressly unlawful in Nebraska: the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer "to harass any individual" because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, national origin, or military or veteran status (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1104(1)). The Act also defines sexual harassment, including conduct that creates "an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment" (§ 48-1102(14)).

The Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees, and to the State of Nebraska and its political subdivisions regardless of size (§ 48-1102(2)). Charges go to the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission within 300 days; a complainant, which the commission's rules define as a person filing a charge, may then file in district court at any stage of the proceedings before dismissal. 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 Nebraska state law on workplace harassment by employers, supervisors and coworkers under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 48-1101 to 48-1127 (chiefly §§ 48-1102, 48-1103, 48-1104, 48-1114, 48-1118, 48-1119, 48-1120.01 and 48-1121), with notes on the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (§§ 48-1002 to 48-1004) and § 81-1395 for state employees. It does not cover wrongful firing or the full charge and lawsuit procedure (see Nebraska wrongful termination), damages estimates, criminal harassment or stalking, harassment outside employment, or federal-employee procedure.

Nebraska harassment rules at a glance

What Nebraska law prohibits

Nebraska is one of the states whose fair employment statute names harassment outright. Section 48-1104 makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer:

"(1) To fail or refuse to hire, to discharge, or to harass any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, national origin, or military or veteran status;" (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1104(1))

The Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, which enforces the Act, lists "freedom from workplace harassment" among the terms, conditions and privileges of employment the Act protects.

Sexual harassment: § 48-1102(14)

The Act's definitions section supplies a definition that applies throughout the Act:

"(14) Harass because of sex shall include making unwelcome sexual advances, requesting sexual favors, and engaging in other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature if (a) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, (b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment;" (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1102(14))

Paragraphs (a) and (b) describe what is often called quid pro quo harassment; paragraph (c) describes a hostile work environment. The three paragraphs are joined by "or."

Harassment on other traits

For race, color, religion, disability, marital status, national origin and military or veteran status, the Act uses the word "harass" in § 48-1104(1) but does not define it. How courts measure that conduct is a matter of case law.

The Nebraska Supreme Court described the hostile-environment standard in Gavin v. Rogers Technical Services, Inc., 276 Neb. 437 (2008), a sexual harassment claim brought under federal Title VII rather than the state Act: "To constitute a hostile work environment, harassment must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim's employment and create an abusive working environment." The court listed five elements for a prima facie case, ending with the requirement that "the employer knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take proper remedial action." Because that case was decided under Title VII, it describes the federal test as the court applied it, not a holding about the wording of § 48-1102(14).

Which Nebraska employers are covered

Section 48-1102(2) defines "employer" as:

"a person engaged in an industry who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, any agent of such a person, and any party whose business is financed in whole or in part under the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority Act regardless of the number of employees and shall include the State of Nebraska, governmental agencies, and political subdivisions"

The definition excludes the United States, corporations wholly owned by the federal government, Indian tribes, and bona fide tax-exempt private membership clubs other than labor organizations. Nebraska uses the same 15-employee threshold for harassment as for other discrimination; it has no lower number for sexual harassment. That 15-employee line matches Title VII, which defines an employer as a person 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)).

Section 48-1103 adds exceptions. The Act does not apply to "A religious corporation, association, or society with respect to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association, or society of its religious activities," or to "The employment of any individual (a) by his or her parent, grandparent, spouse, child, or grandchild or (b) in the domestic service of any person."

Volunteers

The Legislature's annotations to § 48-1104 record the Nebraska Supreme Court's holding that "Volunteers are not employees and may not bring suit for damages under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act" (City of Fort Calhoun v. Collins, 243 Neb. 528 (1993)).

Protected traits

Section 48-1104(1) lists race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, national origin, and military or veteran status. Military or veteran status was added by LB 150 in 2025. The same act provides that the new class "Is not intended to duplicate" the protections of the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and "Does not require an employer or other covered entity to treat a servicemember who is absent from work differently than an individual who is not a servicemember" (§ 48-1127). The definitions widen two of those traits:

• Race and hairstyles: "Race is inclusive of characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, and protective hairstyles," and "Protective hairstyles includes braids, locks, and twists" (§ 48-1102(19)-(20), added by LB 451 in 2021).
• Pregnancy: "Because of sex or on the basis of sex shall include, but not be limited to, because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions" (§ 48-1102(13)).

Neither § 48-1102 nor § 48-1104 names sexual orientation or gender identity as a protected class. Federal Title VII is separate: in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) the U.S. Supreme Court held that "An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law"; see the workplace harassment laws hub.

Age: a separate act with a 20-employee threshold

Age is not in the Fair Employment Practice Act. Nebraska's Age Discrimination in Employment Act makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer "to discriminate against any individual with respect to the employee's terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, otherwise lawful, because of such individual's age, when the reasonable demands of the position do not require such an age distinction" (§ 48-1004(1)(a)). Its prohibitions "shall be limited to the employment of individuals who are forty years or more of age" (§ 48-1003(1)), and it defines an employer as one "having in his or her employ twenty or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks" (§ 48-1002(2)). The age section does not use the word "harass," but the commission lists "freedom from workplace harassment" among the terms, conditions and privileges of employment the age act protects, and gives a 300-day filing deadline for age charges.

Employer responsibility and individual liability

The Act's text does not set out separate rules for harassment by a supervisor, a coworker or a non-employee, and the Gavin elements quoted above come from a Title VII claim.

Whether an individual harasser can be sued personally under the Act is not answered in terms by the statute. The definition of employer in § 48-1102(2) includes "any agent of such a person," but the text does not say whether that reaches an individual supervisor or coworker.

Retaliation for complaining

Section 48-1114(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against an employee or applicant because he or she "(a) has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, (b) has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under the act, (c) has opposed any practice or refused to carry out any action unlawful under federal law or the laws of this state." Firings after a complaint, and how they fit with Nebraska's default employment rule, are covered on the Nebraska at-will employment and Nebraska wrongful termination pages.

Deadlines and where to file

The Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission (NEOC) takes charges under the Act. Its employment page gives the deadline as "300 days from the date of any alleged harm" and notes that "Federal filing deadlines may be different."

• Agency deadline: "A written charge of violation of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall be filed within three hundred days after the occurrence of the alleged unlawful employment practice" (§ 48-1118(2)). The Act sets no separate deadline for harassment.
• Direct court action: "A complainant who has suffered physical, emotional, or financial harm as a result of a violation of section 48-1104 or 48-1114 may, at any stage of the proceedings prior to dismissal, file an action directly in the district court of the county where such alleged violation occurred" (§ 48-1119(4)). The subsection speaks of a district court action "on the charge," the commission's rules define a complainant as "any person filing a charge" (138 NAC 1.010), and filing in court ends the commission's proceedings.
• Court deadline: "The deadline for filing an action directly in the district court is ninety days after the complainant receives notice of the last action the commission will take on the complaint or charge" (§ 48-1120.01).
• Federal charge: the EEOC office that covers Nebraska 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 states of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska," and it lists the NEOC, the Omaha Human Rights and Relations Department and the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights as agencies it works with. Section 48-1117(3) authorizes the commission to cooperate with the federal government, including "the sharing of information possessed by the commission on a case that has also been filed with the federal government or local agencies if both the employer and complainant have been notified of the filing."

The steps between filing and suit are on the Nebraska wrongful termination page, which also covers remedies. The Nebraska employment discrimination settlement calculator is an estimating tool, not a prediction of any outcome.

Training, policies and posting

The Fair Employment Practice Act imposes no harassment-training or written-policy requirement on employers. Its notice duty is a poster: "Every employer, employment agency, and labor organization subject to the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall post in a conspicuous place or places on his, her, or its premises a notice to be prepared or approved by the commission which shall set forth excerpts of the act and such other relevant information which the commission deems necessary to explain the act" (§ 48-1121).

State employees

Section 81-1395 gives state employees an additional reporting channel: "A state employee may make a report of sexual harassment to the Department of Administrative Services," and the department "shall investigate the report or ensure that an investigation is conducted by the agency which employs the reporting employee." The employing agency "shall not retaliate or discriminate against the reporting employee or any other person" for initiating or participating in a report or for testifying, assisting or participating in an investigation, proceeding or action concerning the sexual harassment.

NDAs, confidentiality and arbitration

The Fair Employment Practice Act contains no provision limiting nondisclosure, confidentiality or arbitration terms in harassment agreements or settlements; its confidentiality text concerns the commission's own settlement efforts (§ 48-1118(1)). 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 are explained on the workplace harassment laws hub.

Harassment protection orders

Outside employment law, Nebraska's Protection Orders Act (LB 80, approved May 20, 2025) provides that "Any victim who has been harassed may file a petition and affidavit for a harassment protection order." The provision is not specific to the workplace, and it "does not apply to conduct which occurs during labor picketing."

Is workplace bullying illegal in Nebraska?

The Fair Employment Practice Act reaches harassment because of the traits § 48-1104(1) lists. It contains no provision on general workplace bullying that is unconnected to one of those traits.

Documenting harassment and workplace monitoring

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

Recent changes to Nebraska harassment law

• 2021: LB 451 added the definitions of race (including hair texture and protective hairstyles) and protective hairstyles to § 48-1102.
• 2022: LB 1029 proposed applying the Act's harassment and discrimination provisions to employers with fewer than 15 employees. The current text of § 48-1102(2) keeps the 15-employee threshold.
• 2025: LB 150 added military or veteran status to § 48-1104(1), enacted § 48-1127 on the scope of that class, and amended § 48-1119.
• 2025: LB 80, the Protection Orders Act, carries the harassment protection order petition described above; the former § 28-311.09 was repealed by the same act.

Related pages

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

This article provides general legal information about Nebraska workplace harassment law under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 48-1101 to 48-1127, as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Nebraska or the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is workplace harassment illegal in Nebraska?

Yes, when it is because of a protected trait and the employer is covered. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1104(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to harass any individual because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, national origin, or military or veteran status.

How many employees does a Nebraska employer need for the harassment law to apply?

Fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (§ 48-1102(2)). The State, governmental agencies and political subdivisions are covered regardless of size, and so are businesses financed under the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority Act.

What is sexual harassment under Nebraska law?

Section 48-1102(14) covers unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when submission is made a condition of employment, is used as the basis for employment decisions, or the conduct unreasonably interferes with work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

How long do I have to file a harassment charge in Nebraska?

A written charge must be filed with the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission within 300 days after the alleged unlawful employment practice (§ 48-1118(2)). A direct district court action must be filed within 90 days after the complainant receives notice of the commission's last action (§ 48-1120.01).

Can I go straight to court for workplace harassment in Nebraska?

Section 48-1119(4) lets a complainant who has suffered physical, emotional, or financial harm from a violation of § 48-1104 or § 48-1114 file directly in district court 'at any stage of the proceedings prior to dismissal'; the statute speaks of an action 'on the charge,' and the commission's rules define a complainant as 'any person filing a charge.' Filing in court ends the commission's proceedings.

Does Nebraska protect hairstyles at work?

Yes. Under § 48-1102(19)-(20), race includes skin color, hair texture and protective hairstyles, and protective hairstyles include braids, locks and twists.

Does Nebraska require sexual harassment training?

The Fair Employment Practice Act does not. It requires covered employers to post a notice prepared or approved by the commission (§ 48-1121).

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

Section 48-1114(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against an employee or applicant who opposed a practice the Act makes unlawful or made a charge, testified, assisted or participated in an investigation, proceeding or hearing under the Act, or who opposed a practice or refused to carry out an action unlawful under federal or state law.