Total Articles: 5
Job Bias Charges Hit Record High of Nearly 100,000 in 2010
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that private sector workplace discrimination charge filings hit the highest level ever with 99,922 filed during fiscal year (FY) 2010.
4th Circuit - Retaliatory Discharge Claim May Not Have to Be Specified in EEOC Charge.
Before an individual may file a lawsuit under Title VII or the ADEA, he or she is required to file (or cross-file) a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. The charge is legally sufficient only if it describes with particularity the parties and the actions or practices of which the individual is complaining. The scope of a plaintiff’s right to file a federal lawsuit is determined by the contents of that charge; that is, the lawsuit must be based upon the claims described in the charge, or reasonably related to those described in the charge. Typically, a claim submitted to federal court will be dismissed if the EEOC charge alleges one basis of discrimination, and the formal litigation alleges another, unrelated basis.
Supreme Court Decides that EEOC Intake Questionnaire May Be a Charge of Discrimination.
Is an intake questionnaire filed with the EEOC sufficient to be considered a discrimination charge? It depends. On February 27, the Supreme Court held by a 7-2 vote in Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki that a former employee who filed an intake questionnaire supported by a detailed affidavit had filed a charge that entitled her to file an ADEA suit. The Supreme Court decided that a document filed with the EEOC that requests action to protect the employee’s rights or to settle a dispute with the employer constitutes a discrimination charge under the ADEA.
Employer Waived Verifi cation Requirement by Not Raising it During EEOC Investigation (pdf).
The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an
employer who responded to an unverifi ed EEOC charge
and participated in the EEOC investigatory process
waived the right to raise the lack of verifi cation of the
charge as a defense to a lawsuit under the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA). See Buck v. Hampton Township
(June 30, 2006). Accordingly, the court reversed
the lower court’s decision dismissing the lawsuit.
Ninth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Based On Employee's Failure to Exhaust EEOC Administrative Remedies.
In Freeman v. Oakland Unified School District, 2002 DJDAR 5750 (9th Cir. 5/24/2002), the Ninth Circuit held that summary judgment was properly granted in favor of the school district on the grounds that plaintiff failed to properly exhaust his administrative remedy.
