A federal judge in Illinois has handed the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission a much-needed win, ruling that a disability discrimination suit may go forward even though the agency did not individually investigate and attempt to settle every class member's claim before filing suit.
The decision contrasts sharply with a holding earlier this month from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which tossed a massive sexual harassment suit because it found the EEOC did not adequately investigate the plaintiffs’ claims up front.
U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo of the Northern District of Illinois (part of the Seventh Circuit) reached the opposite conclusion last week when faced with a similar issue in EEOC v. United Road Towing Inc.
The EEOC sued on behalf of 19 current and former United Road employees, alleging the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 706 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC alleged that the company discriminated against the workers with its unpaid medical leave policy, that it denied them reasonable accommodation, and that it illegally refused to rehire them after they returned from leave.
Initially, two employees complained. The EEOC investigated their charges and invited the company to attempt to conciliate, as required by statute. The agency went on to add 17 more plaintiffs.
United Road Towing argued that the court should grant summary judgment for all but the two original plaintiffs because the EEOC failed to satisfy all of its administrative requirements prior to filing suit.
The judge was unimpressed, stating flat out that “the court will not inquire into whether the EEOC’s administrative investigation adequately supported the claims.” Citing a Sixth Circuit precedent, Castillo wrote that “If defendant employers were permitted to challenge whether an EEOC investigation provided sufficient reasonable cause for subsequent claims, the focus of employment discrimination litigation would become the EEOC’s administrative efforts, rather than the validity of the actual claims of discrimination.”
By comparison, the lower court judge in the Eighth Circuit sexual harassment case against trucking giant CRST Van Expedited Inc. conceded that “dozens of potentially meritorious sexual harassment claims may now never see the inside of the courtroom” when she threw out the EEOC’s case for failing to fulfill the administrative prerequisites.
Castillo also ruled that it was “clear the EEOC made an attempt to conciliate, and that this attempt was sufficient,” even though it didn’t involve all 19 plaintiffs. He did, however, stay the proceedings for 14 days to give the parties a chance to conciliate all the claims.
# Posted by Jenna Greene on May 18, 2012 at 10:10 AM
The Blog of Legal Times
@ http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2012/05/judge-allows-eeoc-disability-discrimination-suit-to-move-forward.html
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