Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc.
| Decision Date | 16 February 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-8339,88-8339 |
| Parties | 49 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 99, 102 A.L.R.Fed. 189, 49 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 38,723, 57 USLW 2536, 4 Indiv.Empl.Rts.Cas. 407, 10 Employee Benefits Ca 2039 Bill CLARK, Herbert Futch, Austin Hurst, Louis Sliker and William Barrineau, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. COATS & CLARK, INC., Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Jeanne M.L. Player, Spriggs & Associates, Tallahassee, Fla., for plaintiffs-appellants.
Vella M. Fink, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Peggy R. Mastroianni, Atty., Washington, D.C., for amicus-curiae--E.E.O.C.
William K. Principe, Constangy, Brooks & Smith, Edward Katze, Atlanta, Ga., for defendant-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Before HILL and JOHNSON, Circuit Judges, and NICHOLS *, Senior Circuit Judge.
Appellants Bill Clark, Herbert Futch, Austin Hurst, Louis Sliker, and William Barrineau appeal from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (Elliot, J.), granting in part appellee Coats & Clark, Inc.'s motion to dismiss. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) has appeared and made a helpful argument as amicus. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
All of the appellants in this lawsuit are former employees of appellee Coats & Clark, Inc. (Coats & Clark), and all appellants were members of an employee pension plan covered by Section 510 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1140. Appellants Futch and Hurst were terminated on December 30, 1983, after 21 and 26 years of service, respectively. Appellants Sliker and Barrineau, employees of 9 and 25 years, respectively, were terminated in March of 1985, and appellant Bill Clark was terminated on October 31, 1985, at age 58 after 38 years of employment. Each appellant alleges that his termination was effected for the purpose of interfering with his attainment of pension and retirement benefits, in violation of section 510 of ERISA.
Appellant Clark alleges also that his termination was carried out in a cruel and harsh manner intended to inflict severe emotional distress upon him, and further that his termination was made in violation of section 7(b) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). 29 U.S.C. Sec. 626(b).
After separation from Coats & Clark, appellant Bill Clark inquired of the Atlanta office of the EEOC the appropriate procedures for filing a charge against his former employer based upon a violation of ADEA. The Commission sent Clark an intake questionnaire to be completed and returned to the Commission.
The completed questionnaire provided the name and address of both Clark and his employer and a description of the facts giving rise to the alleged age discrimination. The questionnaire was signed by Clark and dated March 26, 1986; the Commission received the completed questionnaire on April 1, 1986. On April 21, 1986, the Commission mailed a Notice of Charge of Discrimination to Coats & Clark stating that Clark had filed a charge against the company under ADEA alleging age discrimination in connection with his involuntary retirement. On May 21, 1986, Clark signed a formal Charge of Discrimination prepared by the EEOC, and the signed charge was received by the EEOC on May 28, 1986. The EEOC thought it acted timely to preserve Clark's rights and is much embarrassed by the contrary holding.
Clark filed a complaint against Coats & Clark on September 9, 1987, in the District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The complaint set forth the ADEA claim as well as a claim for violation of section 510 of ERISA, and a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Futch, Hurst, Sliker, and Barrineau joined the action, each alleging violations of section 510 of ERISA and other claims not relevant to this appeal.
In lieu of answering the complaint, Coats & Clark filed a motion to dismiss all of the claims in the case except for Clark's ERISA claim. In ruling upon the motion to dismiss, the trial court considered matters outside the complaint and thus converted the motion to dismiss into one for summary judgment. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c); Charles J. Arndt, Inc. v. City of Birmingham, 748 F.2d 1486 (11th Cir.1984). The motion was granted by way of an order dated April 14, 1988, dismissing all of the claims. The ERISA claims of all appellants except Clark were held to be barred by a two-year statute of limitations. O.C.G.A. Sec. 47-2-3; O.C.G.A. Sec. 45-19-36; O.C.G.A. Sec. 9-3-22; O.C.G.A. Sec. 9-3-33. Clark's ADEA claim was dismissed as barred for failure to file a timely charge with the EEOC as required by 29 U.S.C. Sec. 626(d)(1), and Clark's tort claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress was held to be preempted by section 514(a) of ERISA. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1144(a). The trial court's unfavorable disposition of ADEA and tort claims other than those of Clark are not appealed.
The issues before us on appeal are:
(1) Whether Clark's submission of an intake questionnaire to the EEOC constitutes the timely filing of a charge.
(2) Whether appellants' ERISA claims are barred by the statute of limitations.
(3) Whether ERISA preempts Clark's claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
There being no disputed issues of material fact, all of the issues present questions of law over which this court has plenary review. Simon v. Kroger Co., 743 F.2d 1544, 1546 (11th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1075, 105 S.Ct. 2155, 85 L.Ed.2d 511 (1985).
(1) Whether Clark's submission of an intake questionnaire to the EEOC constitutes the timely filing of a charge.
As a precursor to a civil action for age discrimination, the ADEA requires that an individual file a charge alleging unlawful discrimination with the EEOC within 180 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurred. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 626(d)(1). According to the facts described above, the informal intake questionnaire which Clark completed was received by the Commission 152 days after Clark's termination, and the Commission's Notice of Charge of Discrimination was mailed to Coats & Clark 172 days after Clark's termination. The parties agree that these events transpired within 180 days of Clark's termination.
The formal charge prepared by the EEOC was signed by Clark 202 days after the termination, and was received by the Commission 209 days after the termination. Coats & Clark argues that the formal charge signed by Clark 202 days after his termination was the operative document which the statute required to be filed within 180 days of the alleged discrimination. Because the formal charge was not filed within 180 days, Coats & Clark reasons that the ADEA claim is barred. Clark, joined by the EEOC as amicus, suggests that any written statement describing the alleged discrimination and identifying the defendant is adequate to satisfy the filing requirement of section 626(d)(1). These requirements were met by the informal intake questionnaire and, therefore, Clark argues, his actions were in full compliance with the statute.
The EEOC's interpretation of statutes which it is charged with enforcing is entitled to great deference. Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans, 441 U.S. 750, 761, 99 S.Ct. 2066, 2074, 60 L.Ed.2d 609 (1979); Griggs v. Duke Power Corp., 401 U.S. 424, 433-34, 91 S.Ct. 849, 854-55, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971); Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. v. Sumner Financial Corp., 451 F.2d 898, 902 (5th Cir.1971). The construction of a statute by those charged with its execution should be followed unless there are compelling indications that it is wrong. Braddy v. Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Corp., 458 F.2d 666, 669 (5th Cir.1972); FDIC v. Sumner, supra.
The EEOC's interpretation of the statute at issue here is set out in the regulations it has promulgated for enforcement of the ADEA. The pertinent regulations read:
[29 C.F.R.] Sec. 1626.6 Form of charge.
A charge shall be in writing and shall name the prospective respondent and shall generally allege the discriminatory act(s). Charges received in person or by telephone shall be reduced to writing.
[29 C.F.R.] Sec. 1626.8 Contents of charge; amendment of charge.
(a) In addition to the requirements of Sec. 1626.6, each charge should contain the following:
(1) The full name, address and telephone number of the person making the charge;
(2) The full name and address of the person against whom the charge is made;
(3) A clear and concise statement of the facts, including pertinent dates, constituting the alleged unlawful employment practices;
(4) If known, the approximate number of employees of the prospective defendant employer or members of the prospective defendant labor organization.
(5) A statement disclosing whether proceedings involving the alleged unlawful employment practice have been commenced before a State agency charged with the enforcement of fair employment practice laws and, if so, the date of such commencement and the name of the agency.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, a charge is sufficient when the Commission receives from the person making the charge either a written statement or information reduced to writing by the Commission that conforms to the requirements of Sec. 1626.6.
The EEOC argues that while section 1626.8(a) identifies information beyond that set out in section 1626.8(b), the additional information is not required to be included in a document in order for that document to constitute a charge within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. Sec. 626(d)(1); section 1626.8(a) merely states that the additional information "should" be stated in the charge. See Steffen v. Meridian Life Insurance Co., 859 F.2d 534 (7th Cir.1988) (); Foster v. National...
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