Chappell v. Emco Mach. Works Co.

• Citation: 20 FEP cases 1059,601 F.2d 1295
• Decision Date: 06 September 1979
• Docket Number: No. 77-2487,77-2487
• Parties: 20 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1059, 53 A.L.R.Fed. 842, 20 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 30,250 Cleda Jean CHAPPELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. EMCO MACHINE WORKS COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 1295

601 F.2d 1295

20 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1059, 53 A.L.R.Fed. 842,

20 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 30,250

Cleda Jean CHAPPELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. EMCO MACHINE WORKS COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 77-2487.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Sept. 6, 1979.

Robert Trenchard, Jr., Kermit, Tex., for plaintiff-appellant.

Brooks L. Harman, Odessa, Tex., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before WISDOM, CLARK and FAY, Circuit Judges.

CHARLES CLARK, Circuit Judge:

On August 31, 1973, the Emco Machine Works Company discharged Cleda Jean Chappell from her position as a shop clerk, giving her two weeks' pay in lieu of notice. When, on September 18, 1973, Chappell visited the Texas Employment Commission to complain about Emco's treatment of her, one of the Commission's employees, Mr. Whitley, promised that he would promptly file a complaint on her behalf with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). During the period between September 18 and February 24, 1974, Chappell repeatedly contacted Whitley regarding the status of her EEOC complaint, and was told that the complaint had been filed. On March 1, 1974, Chappell hired an attorney, who phoned the EEOC and discovered that the EEOC had not received Chappell's complaint. Despite Whitley's assurances, the EEOC did not receive the complaint until March 5, 1974, more than five months after Chappell's initial visit to the Texas Employment Commission. The reason for the delay in the EEOC's receipt of the complaint remains a mystery.

In processing Chappell's complaint, the EEOC found that Chappell had satisfied the jurisdictional requirements of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that Emco had discharged her on the basis of her sex. On July 25, 1975, the EEOC issued Chappell a "right to sue" letter.

On September 2, 1975, Chappell brought suit in federal district court, alleging that her discharge violated Title VII. Emco moved for summary judgment, contending that Chappell had not met the requirements of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e), ¹ which requires that a complaint of employment discrimination be filed with the EEOC within 180 days of the alleged incident of discrimination. Chappell appeals the district court's order granting that motion. We affirm.

Chappell urges that the 180-day period allowed for filing EEOC complaints under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e) should be treated as a statute of limitations and that the running of the period should be tolled during the time that she relied on Whitley's representations. She argues that she satisfied the filing requirements of § 2000e-5(e) when she spoke with Whitley and that, in any event, the 180-day period did not begin to run until September 15, the last day she received severance pay. She also contends that this court should defer to the EEOC's determination that she had satisfied the jurisdictional prerequisites of Title VII. Emco replies that the 180-day limitations period is jurisdictional and is therefore not subject to equitable tolling. Emco also asserts that the 180-day period commenced running when she was discharged on August 31, that the filing requirement is satisfied only when the EEOC receives the complaint, and that courts should not defer to EEOC's findings regarding jurisdictional matters.

I.

A.

Is the 180-day time period contained in § 2000e-5(e) subject to equitable delay or interruption? The answer is in the affirmative but requires close analysis of numerous precedents.

In McArthur v. Southern Airways, 569 F.2d 276 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc), this court held that timely filing of a complaint with the EEOC was a jurisdictional prerequisite to bringing a Title VII action in federal court. ² The McArthur plaintiffs were airline stewardesses who claimed that Southern Airways had discriminated against them on the basis of their sex. Even though the particular incidents of discrimination had occurred more than 180 days prior to the filing of a complaint with the EEOC, plaintiffs contended that the requirement of timely filing had been met since they were victims of "continuing" discrimination. The en banc court rejected this argument, holding that "a discriminatory act which is not made the basis for a timely charge is the legal equivalent of a discriminatory act which occurred before the statute was passed." 569 F.2d at 277 (quoting United Air Lines v. Evans, 431 U.S. 553, 554, 97 S.Ct. 1885, 1887, 52 L.Ed.2d 571, 576 (1977)).

McArthur did not address the question whether equitable considerations could delay or interrupt the running of the 180-day period. But see McArthur, 569 F.2d at 279-80 (Rubin, J., dissenting). It could be argued, however, that McArthur's characterization of timely filing as a jurisdictional prerequisite to Title VII relief means that equity can play no part in determining whether timely filing has occurred. See Reich v. Dow Badische Co., 575 F.2d 363, 372-74 (2d Cir. 1978) (Danaher, Jr., concurring), Cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1006, 99 S.Ct. 621, 58 L.Ed.2d 683 (1979). It is illogical to designate a particular fact as necessary to the court's jurisdiction, yet, in its absence, allow the court to adjudicate whether equities indicate that the jurisdictional defect should be ignored.

Supreme Court decisions regarding the consequences of the failure to comply with the provisions of Title VII, however, suggest that Title VII's § 2000e-5(e) is not a jurisdictional prerequisite in the same sense as other statutory requirements, such as the provision requiring the matter in controversy to exceed $10,000. See Bethel, supra, 191 U.S.App.D.C. at 118 n.64, 589 F.2d at 641 n.64; McArthur, supra, 569 F.2d at 280 (Rubin, J., dissenting). For example, the court has held that Title VII relief is, in certain circumstances, available to members of class actions who have not filed Any complaint with the EEOC. These cases rely on the legislative history of Title VII. United Airlines v. McDonald, 432 U.S. 385, 389 n.6, 92 S.Ct. 2464, 2467 n.6, 53 L.Ed.2d 423, 429 n.6 (1977); Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co., Inc., 424 U.S. 747, 771, 96 S.Ct. 1251, 1267, 47 L.Ed.2d 444, 465 (1976); Albermarle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U.S. 405, 414 n.8, 95 S.Ct. 2362, 2370 n.8, 45 L.Ed.2d 280, 294-95 n.8 (1975). On the other hand, the court has strictly applied the amount in controversy requirement to bar participation in a class action suit by any potential class member not meeting the $10,000 limit. Zahn v. International Paper Co., 414 U.S. 291, 94 S.Ct. 505, 38 L.Ed.2d 511 (1973); Snyder v. Harris, 394 U.S. 332, 89 S.Ct. 1053, 22 L.Ed.2d 319 (1969).

In addition, both the Supreme Court and this court have, on various occasions, used equitable principles from the law concerning statutes of limitations to ameliorate the effects of Title VII provisions which are characterized as jurisdictional prerequisites. ³ In International Union of Electrical Workers v. Robbins & Myers, 429 U.S. 229, 97 S.Ct. 441, 50 L.Ed.2d 427 (1976), the Supreme Court addressed the question whether the statutory time period for filing complaints with the EEOC was amenable to equitable tolling. The Robbins plaintiffs contended that the statutory period should have been tolled during the pendency of arbitration procedures, asserting that "the policy of repose, designed to protect defendants is outweighed because the interests of justice require vindication of the plaintiffs' rights." 429 U.S. at 237, 97 S.Ct. at 447, 50 L.Ed.2d at 435-436. Noting that Title VII and union grievance procedures were independent remedies, the court rejected plaintiffs' arguments. Although the Robbins Court found that timely filing was a jurisdictional prerequisite to a Title VII suit, 429 U.S. at 240, 97 S.Ct. at 441, 50 L.Ed.2d at 437, the Court distinguished Burnett v. New York Central R. Co., 380 U.S. 424, 85 S.Ct. 1050, 13 L.Ed.2d 941 (1965), a prior decision that found tolling appropriate. In Burnett, plaintiff had filed his Federal Employers' Liability Act suit in an Ohio state court which had jurisdiction over the matter, but which was an improper forum under Ohio venue law. After the Ohio court had dismissed his suit, plaintiff filed a complaint in federal district court against the same parties served in the state court suit, alleging the same cause of action. The Supreme Court held that the filing of the state court action was sufficient to toll the statutory limitations period contained in the Employers' Liability Act:

Petitioner here did not sleep on his rights but brought an action within the statutory period in the state court of competent jurisdiction. Service of process was made upon the respondent notifying him that petitioner was asserting his cause of action.

380 U.S. at 429, 85 S.Ct. at 1055, 13 L.Ed.2d at 946; See Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, 421 U.S. 454, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 44 L.Ed.2d 295 (1975). The Robbins Court distinguished Burnett on its facts by finding that the Robbins petitioner, in filing the grievance proceedings, "was not asserting the same statutory claim in a different forum, nor giving notice to respondent of that statutory claim, but was asserting an independent claim based on a Contract right." Robbins, supra, 429 U.S. at 238, 97 S.Ct. at 448, 50 L.Ed.2d at 436 (emphasis in the original). The Robbins Court also noted that the petitioner had not asserted that she was prevented from filing a claim with the EEOC within 90 days ⁴ of the discriminatory act, "indeed, it (was) conceded . . . that she could have filed it the following day, had she so wished." Id. at 237 n.10, 97 S.Ct. at 447 n.10, 50 L.Ed.2d at 436 n.10. Thus, though Robbins rejected the union's claim, it recognized that equitable considerations can, in some circumstances, interrupt the running of Title VII's period for filing complaints.

Decisions of this court have also relied on equitable principles to forestall the strict, inflexible application of Title VII's...