Doski v. M. Goldseker Co.

• Decision Date: 30 June 1976
• Docket Number: No. 75-2016,75-2016
• Citation: 12 FEP Cases 1751,539 F.2d 1326
• Parties: 12 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1751, 12 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 11,051 Cecilia DOSKI, on her own behalf and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated, Appellant, v. M. GOLDSEKER CO. et al., Appellees. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Curiae.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 1326

539 F.2d 1326

12 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1751,

12 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 11,051

Cecilia DOSKI, on her own behalf and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated, Appellant, v. M. GOLDSEKER CO. et al., Appellees Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Curiae.

No. 75-2016.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued April 6, 1976.

Decided June 30, 1976.

Joseph A. Schwartz, III, Baltimore, Md. (Thomas Waxter, Jr., Washington, D. C., on brief), for appellant.

Marian Halley, Atty., EEOC, Washington D. C. (Abner W. Sibal, Gen. Counsel, Joseph T. Eddins, Associate Gen. Counsel, EEOC, Beatrice Rosenberg and Charles L. Reischel Attys., EEOC, Washington, D. C., on brief), as amicus curiae.

Stanley Mazaroff, Baltimore, Md. (George Cochran Doub, Jr., Venable, Baetjer & Howard, Baltimore, Md., on brief), for appellees.

Before BRYAN, Senior Circuit Judge, and CRAVEN and RUSSELL, Circuit Judges.

CRAVEN, Circuit Judge:

Ms. Cecilia Doski brought suit in the district court alleging that she had been discharged from employment with M. Goldseker Company because of her sex, in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. ¹ In a second count she charged that several male employees of the M. Goldseker Company (Goldseker) had conspired to deprive her and all women employees of their rights to equal employment opportunity in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). Upon defendant's motion, Judge Blair entered summary judgment against Doski as to her Title VII claim on the ground that she had failed to file a timely charge of discrimination and granted defendant's motion to dismiss the § 1985(3) claim on the ground that that section does not reach totally private conspiracies to deny equal employment opportunities.

We hold that Doski's charge of discrimination was timely and accordingly reverse the district court as to that claim. We affirm his dismissal of appellant's claim under § 1985(3).

I.

On January 8, 1973, Doski's employment with the M. Goldseker Company ² was terminated after 26 years of service. ³ During her employment she held various administrative, managerial and supervisory positions in the Company's collection and mortgage departments. Doski alleged in her complaint that because she was female she had been treated "in a manner inferior to that accorded to male employees" during the period of her employment and that she had been discharged for reasons related to her sex.

On October 16, 1973, 281 days after her discharge, Doski filed a charge of sex discrimination with the Maryland Commission on Human Relations (MCHR). Later on the same day, she filed a similar charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC interview was completed the next day and a charge was formally filed on that day. On October 19, 1973, 284 days after Doski's discharge, the EEOC was notified that MCHR had terminated its proceedings. It assumed jurisdiction over the charge. A right-to-sue letter was issued on July 19, 1974, and suit was filed in the district court within the prescribed 90-day period. The complaint in the district court rested exclusively on Title VII.

On May 13, 1975, Doski filed an amended complaint which asserted a new claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), based on allegations of a conspiracy among certain male employees of the Company to deprive plaintiff and all women employees of their rights to equal employment opportunities and equal terms and conditions of employment. Defendants then filed motions to dismiss the amended complaint or, in the alternative, for summary judgment.

The district court, as we have said, granted summary judgment as to Doski's Title VII claim and dismissed the § 1985(3) cause of action.

II.

It is settled that before an aggrieved person may file suit in the district court under Title VII he must first have timely filed a charge of discrimination with EEOC. McFadden v. Baltimore S.S. Trade Ass'n, 352 F.Supp. 403 (D.Md.), aff'd, 483 F.2d 452 (4th Cir. 1973). Cf. Johnson v. Seaboard Air Line R.R., 405 F.2d 645 (4th Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 918, 89 S.Ct. 1189, 22 L.Ed.2d 451 (1969); Stebbins v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., 382 F.2d 267 (4th Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 910, 88 S.Ct. 836, 19 L.Ed.2d 880 (1969). Goldseker's argument, which the district court accepted, was that Doski's charge was not timely under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e).

The Statute

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e) reads as follows:

A charge under this section shall be filed within one hundred and eighty days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred and notice of the charge (including the date, place and circumstances of the alleged unlawful employment practice) shall be served upon the person against whom such charge is made within ten days thereafter, except that in a case of an unlawful employment practice with respect to which the person aggrieved has initially instituted proceedings with a State or local agency with authority to grant or seek relief from such practice or to institute criminal proceedings with respect thereto upon receiving notice thereof, such charge shall be filed by or on behalf of the person aggrieved within three hundred days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred, or within thirty days after receiving notice that the State or local agency has terminated the proceedings under the State or local law, whichever is earlier, and a copy of such charge shall be filed by the Commission with the State or local agency.

(Emphasis added.)

Put simply the statute established two time limitations. The first requires that charges of discrimination be filed with EEOC within 180 days of the alleged unlawful discrimination. But secondly, if "the person aggrieved has initially instituted proceedings with a State or local agency with authority to grant or seek relief from such practice," Congress chose to enlarge the time limitations; and the charge must be filed within 300 days. Since the charge here was filed with EEOC within 300 days, the issue is simply whether proceedings were "initially instituted" with MCHR so as to invoke the second time limitation period of 300 days. Goldseker argues, and the district court agreed, that although the statute does not say so, the enlarged period of 300 days is not invoked unless the charges were filed with the state agency within 180 days of discrimination. Doski and the EEOC, as amicus curiae, contend that as long as the charges are timely filed under the state agency's own regulations, ⁴ the 300-day filing period with EEOC applies.

The words of the statute provide no support for Goldseker's argument. On its face the section requires only that proceedings be "initially instituted" with the State or local agency. While it clearly states that unless this procedure is followed charges must be filed within 180 days with the EEOC, it does not on its face require or in any way intimate that charges with the State or local agency must be initially instituted within 180 days. Goldseker argues that in using the word "initially," Congress meant to refer back to the first time limit period of 180 days. The best that can be said for such an argument is that if Congress meant that it failed to give it expression. Certainly we cannot read "initially" to mean a limited time period.

We disagree with Goldseker that Love v. Pullman Co., 404 U.S. 522, 92 S.Ct. 616, 30 L.Ed.2d 679 (1972) and Vigil v. American Telephone and Telegraph Co., 455 F.2d 1222 (10th Cir. 1972), indicate that the phrase "initially instituted" does not refer to the order of filing the charge. All those cases hold is that a complainant's failure to file first with the state agency is not fatal to subsequent prosecution of a claim. But the meaning of the phrase is well settled: the state or local agency should be given first opportunity to act on the complaint. Ugianski v. Flynn and Emrich Co., 337 F.Supp. 807, 808 n.1 (D.Md.1972). See Ortega v. Construction and General Laborers' Union No. 390, 396 F.Supp. 976, 981-82 (D.Conn.1975); Ashworth v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 389 F.Supp. 597, 601 (E.D.Va.1975). Cf. Love v. Pullman, supra 404 U.S. at 526, 92 S.Ct. 616.

Indeed, the entire statutory pattern evidences a desire by Congress to defer EEOC action to similar efforts at conciliation undertaken by analogous state agencies. ⁵ Goldseker agrees with that statement but contends that a requirement that charges be filed with the state agency within 180 days is necessary to assure an opportunity for state action before the EEOC assumes jurisdiction. This does not appear to be so, but in any event, it is a plea that should be addressed to the Congress. Here EEOC gave MCHR a chance to act.

In view of the liberal construction that has been given filing requirements (Cf. Love, supra 404 U.S. at 526-27, 92 S.Ct. 616) and the further expansion of filing periods by Congress in the 1972 amendments, we are unable to read into the statute a federal time limitation period on state or local agency action.

The Precedents

The district court based its decision to dismiss almost entirely on the authority of the Eighth Circuit's decision in Olson v. Rembrandt Printing Co., supra. There is nothing in that case to support dismissal in this one except dictum: "(A) charge of employment discrimination must be filed within 180 days whether or not the complainant is in a deferral state." Id. 511 F.2d 1228, at 1233.

In Olson the alleged discrimination occurred on October 1, 1971. A charge was first filed with EEOC on April 3, 1972, more than 180 days later. EEOC then on April 5 referred the charge to the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, which was the initial filing with the state agency. Missouri's statute of limitations on the filing of such charges is 90 days. Therefore, the charge in that case was not timely filed with the state agency under its own regulations, nor was it filed with any agency within 180 days. ⁶

When we examine those cases...