Bright v. Roadway Services, Inc.

• Decision Date: 18 March 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93 C 6378.,93 C 6378.
• Citation: 846 F. Supp. 693
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois
• Parties: Richard L. BRIGHT, Plaintiff, v. ROADWAY SERVICES, INC. and Spartan Central Express, Inc., Defendants.

846 F. Supp. 693

Richard L. BRIGHT, Plaintiff, v. ROADWAY SERVICES, INC. and Spartan Central Express, Inc., Defendants.

No. 93 C 6378.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, E.D.

March 18, 1994.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Michael David Robbins, Chicago, IL, for plaintiff.

Richard C. Robin, Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz, Chicago, IL, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ALESIA, District Judge.

Before the court is the motion of defendant, Roadway Services, Inc. ("Roadway"), to dismiss the Complaint, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,¹ for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For the reasons set forth below, the court grants defendant's motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Richard L. Bright filed his Complaint on October 21, 1993, alleging: (1) age and race discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., respectively; (2) retaliatory discharge; and (3) intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff brings these claims against Spartan Central Express, Inc. ("Spartan"), and Roadway. The second and third causes of action are brought as pendent state claims.

Plaintiff, at the time of the Complaint a 51 year-old African American, began working for Spartan on November 25, 1991, and continued working for the company as a truck driver until his termination in April 1992. Plaintiff alleges that his supervisors consistently harassed and eventually fired him because of his age and race. Additionally, plaintiff claims that his termination was in retaliation for his filing a Worker's Compensation claim. Finally, plaintiff claims that his "sudden termination" was an "outrageous act," causing him "severe emotional distress."

According to plaintiff's Complaint, Spartan is a subsidiary of Roadway, an allegation taken as true for purposes of this motion. Plaintiff alleges that due to the fact that Roadway "owns and controls" Spartan, Roadway has "ratified and affirmed" all of the acts of discrimination alleged in plaintiff's Complaint. Thus, plaintiff seeks to hold both Spartan and Roadway liable for the acts alleged in his Complaint.

Within 180 days of plaintiff's termination, plaintiff filed a charge of age and race discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). However, the only respondent plaintiff named in the EEOC charge was Spartan. Attempts at conciliation were unsuccessful, and plaintiff received a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC. Within 90 days of receiving his right-to-sue letter, plaintiff filed his Complaint with this court, naming both Spartan and Roadway as defendants.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Dismissal of Plaintiff's Title VII and ADEA Claims (Count I)

Roadway offers two arguments in support of its motion as to Count I. First, Roadway contends that because it was not named as a respondent in plaintiff's EEOC charge, it must be dismissed from this action. Second Roadway contends that the facts alleged in plaintiff's Complaint fail to state a claim against it for the alleged discrimination. Because the court grants defendant's motion on the basis of its first argument, the court need not address its second argument.

Generally, a party not named as a respondent in an EEOC charge may not be sued in a Title VII action. Schnellbaecher v. Baskin Clothing Co., 887 F.2d 124, 126 (7th Cir.1989); Eggleston v. Chicago Journeymen Plumbers' Local Union No. 130, 657 F.2d 890, 905 (7th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1017, 102 S.Ct. 1710, 72 L.Ed.2d 134 (1982).² Because ADEA and Title VII share a common purpose and because the filing requirements of the two statutory schemes are similar, this principle applies with equal force to actions brought under ADEA. Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans, 441 U.S. 750, 756, 99 S.Ct. 2066, 2071, 60 L.Ed.2d 609 (1979); Pauls v. Elaine Revell, Inc., 571 F.Supp. 1018, 1020 (N.D.Ill.1983) ("ADEA procedural provisions generally receive the same interpretation as their Title VII counterparts."). The purpose of imposing this administrative requirement is two-fold: it provides notice to the party to be sued, and it affords that party an opportunity to participate in conciliation in an effort to voluntarily comply with Title VII. Eggleston, 657 F.2d at 905. Nevertheless, it is not a jurisdictional prerequisite. Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 393, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 1132, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982); Perkins v. Silverstein, 939 F.2d 463, 469-70 (7th Cir.1991). Instead, the requirement is a condition precedent to bringing suit, comparable to a statute of limitations. Perkins, 939 F.2d at 470. As such, the requirement is subject to equitable modification such as waiver, estoppel or tolling. Zipes, 455 U.S. at 393, 102 S.Ct. at 1132; Liberles v. County of Cook, 709 F.2d 1122, 1125 (7th Cir.1983).

The Seventh Circuit has recognized an exception to the rule that parties to a Title VII suit must be named in the administrative charge. Schnellbaecher, 887 F.2d at 126-27; Eggleston, 657 F.2d at 905. Specifically, "where an unnamed party has been provided with adequate notice of the charge, under circumstances where the party has been given the opportunity to participate in conciliation proceedings aimed at voluntary compliance, the charge is sufficient to allow a cause of action against that party." Eggleston, 657 F.2d at 905.³ This exception fulfills the purposes of the administrative requirement, while at the same time preventing frustration of the goals of Title VII by not requiring procedural exactness in stating the charges. See, e.g., Eggleston, 657 F.2d at 905-06.

Plaintiff argues in opposition to Roadway's motion that the facts of the present case fit the Eggleston exception. Both parties agree that Roadway received notice of the EEOC charge against Spartan. In addition, both parties agree that Roadway's in-house legal counsel appeared before the EEOC in an attempt to conciliate on behalf of Spartan. The parties, however, disagree as to whether these occurrences are sufficient to excuse plaintiff's failure to name Roadway in his EEOC charge.

The facts of the present case are similar to those in Schnellbaecher, where the court dismissed a parent corporation that had not been named as a respondent. In Schnellbaecher, the parent company received notice of the EEOC charge against its subsidiary because both entities "had common corporate offices, corporate counsel and managerial staffs." 887 F.2d at 126. Nevertheless, the court reasoned that the EEOC charge against the subsidiary had not informed the parent of any charges against it and had not provided the parent an opportunity to conciliate on its own behalf. Id. at 127.

Accordingly, the decisive factor in determining if an unnamed defendant is a proper party to a Title VII action is whether the unnamed defendant had notice that it was subject to suit. When a party has notice of the possibility of a discrimination action against it, that party has the opportunity, or at least the incentive, to conciliate. See, e.g., Eggleston, 657 F.2d at 906-07. Thus, where the unnamed defendant is named or sufficiently alluded to on the face of the EEOC charge, the defendant may be amenable to suit. Vakharia v. Swedish Covenant Hosp., 824 F.Supp. 769, 774-75 (N.D.Ill.1993) (motion to dismiss denied where charge alluded to defendants as participating in discrimination); Perera v. Flexonics, Inc., 727 F.Supp. 406, 410 (N.D.Ill.1989) (motion to dismiss denied where unnamed defendant mentioned by name in EEOC charge); Pauls v. Elaine Revell, Inc., 571 F.Supp. 1018, 1022 (N.D.Ill. 1983) (motion to dismiss denied where unnamed defendant specifically named in charge as individual responsible for discrimination).

By contrast, where the unnamed defendant has no indication of a possible action against it, and thus no opportunity or incentive to conciliate on its own behalf, the defendant is properly dismissed from the action. Allen v. City of Chicago, 828 F.Supp. 543, 556 (N.D.Ill.1993) (motion to dismiss granted where defendant city commissioners had notice of charge against city but no notice of charges against them as individuals); Stephenson v. CNA Fin. Corp., 775 F.Supp. 238, 239-40 (N.D.Ill.1991) (motion to dismiss granted where defendant corporate officers had no notice of possible action against them apart from action against corporation); Mufich v. Commonwealth Edison Co., 735 F.Supp. 897, 899-90 (N.D.Ill.1990) (motion to dismiss granted where defendant supervisors knew of charge against corporation but not of possible suit against them); Feng v. Sandrik, 636 F.Supp. 77, 81 (N.D.Ill.1986) (motion to dismiss granted where defendant board members were aware of charge against university but not of any charge against them personally).

Plaintiff nonetheless argues that Roadway should be estopped from seeking dismissal from this action due to its "active participation in the administrative proceedings." (Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss at 4) While this argument is not without merit,⁴ it is foreclosed by the decision in Schnellbaecher.⁵ Indeed, a case with virtually identical facts as those in the present case was referenced by the Seventh Circuit in Schnellbaecher. In Evans v. Meadow Steel Prods., Inc., 579 F.Supp. 1391 (N.D.Ga.1984) ("Evans II"), the court dismissed the unnamed parent company from the plaintiff's Title VII action, even though the parent had received notice of the EEOC charge and had participated in conciliation proceedings on behalf of its subsidiary. Earlier the court had denied the defendant's motion to dismiss, reasoning that, because the parent company received a copy of the EEOC charge, it necessarily had been investigated by the EEOC. Evans v. Meadow Steel Prods., Inc., 572 F.Supp. 250, 255 (N.D.Ga.1983) ("Evans I"). Once the parent...