Blesedell v. Mobil Oil Co.

• Decision Date: 22 March 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88 Civ. 3165 (GLG).,88 Civ. 3165 (GLG).
• Citation: 708 F. Supp. 1408
• Parties: Joan BLESEDELL, Valerie Janos and Gail Bate, Plaintiffs, v. MOBIL OIL CO., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

708 F. Supp. 1408

Joan BLESEDELL, Valerie Janos and Gail Bate, Plaintiffs, v. MOBIL OIL CO., Defendant.

No. 88 Civ. 3165 (GLG).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

March 22, 1989.

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Casper & de Toledo, Stamford, Conn. (Victoria de Toledo, of counsel), for plaintiffs.

Dechert Price & Rhoads, New York City (Howard S. Schrader, of counsel), Dechert Price & Rhoads, Philadelphia, Pa. (Mari Shaw, Michael J. Salmanson, Cecelia M. Comito, of counsel), for defendant.

OPINION

GOETTEL, District Judge.

This employment discrimination case was commenced by the three plaintiffs pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., alleging sex discrimination and sexual harassment. The defendant has made motions for summary judgment against each of the plaintiffs and additionally has moved to strike plaintiffs' claim for compensatory and punitive damages,¹ and to sever the action for separate trials. Because the facts of this case are somewhat intricate, they will be discussed as they apply to each motion.

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) provides that summary judgment is appropriate if "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." The burden is on the moving party to demonstrate the absence of a material, factual dispute. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1608, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). If that burden is met, the non-moving parties cannot simply rest on their complaint setting forth a valid cause of action. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); First Nat'l Bank v. Cities Services Co., 391 U.S. 253, 389, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 1592, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968). They "must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine need for trial," Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e), and there must be more than merely "some metaphysical doubt as to those material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). In determining whether that burden is met, however, the court must draw all reasonable inferences and resolve all ambiguities in favor of the non-moving parties. United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962) (per curiam). In what has now been dubbed the 1986 Supreme Court "trilogy," the Court reaffirmed its support for Rule 56 as an important procedural tool. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Against this backdrop of summary judgment jurisprudence, we turn to the defendant's motions.

II. SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION

The defendant has moved for summary judgment against plaintiff Bate on Count Three of the complaint on the ground that this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the claims alleged therein. The crux of the defendant's argument is that plaintiff Bate failed to file suit within 90 days of March 5, 1986, the date the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") issued a right-to-sue letter. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1). A recitation of the procedural history leading up to the filing of this action is essential to an analysis of this motion.

On December 24, 1984, plaintiffs Blesedell, Janos and Bate filed a joint complaint against Mobil Oil Corporation ("Mobil") with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities ("CCHRO"). Although the CCHRO accepted jurisdiction over the three claims, it expressed some concern with jurisdiction over Blesedell's and Janos' claims because the two, unlike Bate, were not Connecticut residents. Consequently, in February 1985, all of the plaintiffs also filed their claims with the New York State Division on Human Rights ("NYSDHR"). The NYSDHR informed plaintiffs' counsel that it lacked jurisdiction over the claims because they were pending in another agency.² In May 1985, the CCHRO dismissed Blesedell's and Janos' claims for lack of jurisdiction. The CCHRO maintained jurisdiction over Bate's claim. After the CCHRO dismissed Blesedell's and Janos' claims, plaintiff's counsel requested the NYSDHR to assume jurisdiction over these two claims. Thus, it appears that, at one time, the CCHRO had jurisdiction over Bate's claims and the NYSDHR had jurisdiction over Blesedell's and Janos' claims. In an effort to have all the plaintiffs' claims investigated by one agency, the plaintiffs' then asked the EEOC to exercise its original jurisdiction over the claims and subsequently withdrew Blesedell's and Janos' claims from the NYSDHR. Plaintiff Bate requested that the CCHRO forgo its continued processing of her claim in order for the EEOC to assume the investigation of all three claims.

On December 1, 1985, the NYSDHR dismissed Bate's claim for insufficient evidence. On December 3, 1985, plaintiffs' counsel contested the NYSDHR's finding on the grounds of insufficient investigation and lack of jurisdiction.³ Counsel also brought her concerns to the attention of the Boston Regional Office of the EEOC, where Bate's claim had been filed and which had proper jurisdiction over Bate's claim.

As a result of the NYSDHR dismissal, the New York Regional Office of the EEOC issued a right-to-sue letter on March 5, 1986. On April 30, 1986, counsel for Bate again wrote to the EEOC, further explaining the reason why the NYSDHR never had proper jurisdiction over Bate's claim. Accordingly, on May 8, 1986, the EEOC rescinded the March 5, 1986 right-to-sue letter and declared it null and void. In so doing, the EEOC recognized that the original filing with the CCHRO and Boston Regional Office of the EEOC in December 1985 was the valid charge. After allowing the EEOC two years to investigate the three claims, plaintiffs requested and received a subsequent right-to-sue letter on February 18, 1988. They then instituted this suit on May 6, 1988—within 90 days of receipt of the letter.

The defendant contends that the EEOC had no authority to rescind the first right-to-sue letter. Accordingly, it argues that the subsequently issued letter is invalid and the 90-day filing period must be measured from the first letter dated March 5, 1986. Both parties have advanced various constructions of the regulations accompanying Title VII in support of their arguments. The regulations do not appear to squarely address the situation presented by this case. Because we can decide the defendant's motion on other grounds, we decline to resort to unnecessary regulatory interpretation.

As a general matter, Title VII must be interpreted liberally to effectuate its purpose of eradicating employment discrimination. See Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 397, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 1134, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982); Love v. Pullman Co., 404 U.S. 522, 526-27, 92 S.Ct. 616, 618-19, 30 L.Ed.2d 679 (1972); Dougherty v. Barry, 34 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 339, 340 (D.D.C.1984). Accordingly, we must not be blinded by strict procedural technicalities and must examine the propriety of the action before us in such a manner as to advance the purposes of Title VII. Love v. Pullman Co., 404 U.S. 522, 526-27, 92 S.Ct. 616, 618-19, 30 L.Ed.2d 679 (1972). "Fairness, not excessive technicality, is the guiding principle under ... Title VII." Gordon v. National Youth Work Alliance, 675 F.2d 356, 360 (D.C.Cir.1982) (citing Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 397, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 1134, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982); Love v. Pullman Co., 404 U.S. 522, 527, 92 S.Ct. 616, 619, 30 L.Ed.2d 679 (1972)).

In accord with this interpretive guide, the filing requirements of Title VII have not been construed as jurisdictional prerequisites. See Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker, 462 U.S. 345, 349 n. 3, 103 S.Ct. 2392, 2395 n. 3, 76 L.Ed.2d 628 (1983); Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 398, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 1135, 71 L.Ed. 2d 234 (1982). Accord Dougherty v. Barry, 34 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 339, 340 (D.D.C.1984) ("There is no longer any dispute that the 90-day time limit contained in § 2000e-5(f)(1) is not jurisdictional." (emphasis in original)). Rather, the filing requirements are similar to a statute of limitations that can be waived or tolled when equity so requires. Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 398, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 1135, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982). We must be ever mindful, however, that the principle underlying the filing requirements is "`to give prompt notice to the employer,' thereby encouraging conciliation where possible." Snell v. Suffolk County, 782 F.2d 1094, 1101 (2d Cir.1986) (quoting Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 398, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 1135, 71 L.Ed. 2d 234 (1982)). Consequently, in Foster v. Gueory, 655 F.2d 1319 (D.C.Cir.1981), the court held that the purposes of the filing procedure were satisfied when the allegations of discrimination made by a party who had not exhausted his administrative remedies were sufficiently similar to the EEOC charge filed by one plaintiff. Id. at 1323. Because the defendant was put on notice of the charge and had an opportunity for conciliation, duplicative filings by other putative plaintiffs would have been futile. Id.

The Second Circuit adopted the "single filing rule" in Snell v. Suffolk County, 782 F.2d 1094 (2d Cir.1986). The standard, as enunciated therein, is: "`Where two plaintiffs allege that they were similarly situated and received the same discriminatory treatment, the purposes of the exhaustion requirement are adequately served if one plaintiff has filed an EEOC complaint.'" Id. at 1101 (quoting De Medina v. Reinhardt, 686 F.2d 997, 1013 (D.C.Cir. 1982). For a non-complying plaintiff to invoke the single filing rule, therefore, two factors must be present. First, at least one complying plaintiff must be a party to...