EEOC error won't bar trial for age discrimination plaintiffs
On Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, in Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a failure to the EEOC to comply with statutory requirements to inform companies of claims filed against them cannot bar plaintiffs from proceeding to trial. The EEOC had not considered a worker’s intake questionnaire outlining the claim to be a formal charge, and therefore, did not start an investigation. The Court found the intake questionnaire came close enough to filing requirements to have constituted a “charge.”
The Court also established an objective test to determine whether a charge has been filed: would an objective observer examining what the complaining worker has filed conclude the agency should “activate its machinery and remedial processes.”
Justice Kennedy wrote the opinion for the 7-2 majority, admonishing the agency to “determine, in the first instance, what additional revisions in its forms and processes are necessary or appropriate” to “to reduce the risk of further misunderstandings by those who seek its assistance.”
Justices Thomas, former head of the EEOC dissented, with Scalia joining.
