Jones v. Calvert Group, Ltd.

• Decision Date: 05 January 2009
• Docket Number: No. 07-1680.,07-1680.
• Citation: 551 F.3d 297
• Parties: Linda JONES, an Individual, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CALVERT GROUP, LIMITED, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

551 F.3d 297

Linda JONES, an Individual, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CALVERT GROUP, LIMITED, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 07-1680.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: October 30, 2008.

Decided: January 5, 2009.

Theodore Scot Allison, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Henry Adam Platt, Saul Ewing, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

Before TRAXLER and SHEDD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Vacated in part and reversed and remanded in part by published opinion. Judge TRAXLER wrote the opinion, in which Judge SHEDD and Senior Judge HAMILTON joined.

OPINION

TRAXLER, Circuit Judge:

Linda Jones appeals a district court order that, as is relevant here, granted summary judgment against her on her claims that Calvert Group, Ltd. terminated her in retaliation for filing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") charge and because of her age, sex, and race. We vacate the judgment on the merits on each of these claims. Regarding the age, sex, and race claims, we remand for dismissal of the claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because of Jones's failure to exhaust administrative remedies. With regard to the retaliation claim, we remand for further proceedings.

I.

Because this is an appeal from the grant of summary judgment to Calvert, we review the facts in the light most favorable to Jones. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

Jones is an African-American female who was 56 years old when she filed her complaint on November 3, 2006. She was employed by Calvert as a computer operator and technical analyst from 1989 until her termination. She "performed her job successfully at all times." J.A. 5.

On approximately May 1, 2003, Jones filed a complaint of race, age, and sex discrimination with the Maryland Commission on Human Relations ("the first charge") alleging that Calvert had discriminated against her on the basis of her race, sex, and age when it selected a white male under the age of 40 instead of her for a particular position for which she was qualified. The complaint was resolved in February 2004 by a written agreement, under which Calvert was obligated to provide Jones with certain training and assistance to enable her to qualify for future promotions.

Shortly thereafter, Jones received her first ever negative performance evaluation. She then filed a second formal discrimination charge ("the second charge") claiming that, in retaliation for her filing the first charge, she had been denied mentoring opportunities, management had scrutinized her performance unduly, and she had received a negative performance review. She alleged, "I believe I am being forced to work in a hostile environment and subjected to differential treatment in retaliation for filing" the first charge. J.A. 18. The second charge was before the Maryland Commission on Human Relations from July 6, 2005, until July 10, 2006. Then, on August 6, 2006, the Commission issued Jones a right-to-sue letter.

Calvert terminated Jones on or about October 19, 2006, allegedly for "not taking `ownership' of her work assignments." J.A. 6.

On November 3, 2006, Jones filed suit in federal district court alleging that she was terminated in violation of Title VII because of her race and sex and in retaliation for engaging in protected Title VII activity, and that she was terminated on the basis of her age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"). The suit also alleged that Jones's termination constituted a breach of her employment contract with Calvert.

Calvert moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). As is relevant here, Calvert maintained that Jones had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies for the Title VII and ADEA claims. Jones opposed the motion. Converting the motion to one for summary judgment regarding the federal claims, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b), the district court entered judgment against Jones on the Title VII and ADEA counts and dismissed her breach of contract claim for failure to state a claim.¹

II.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it an "unlawful employment practice" to "discharge any individual ... because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-2(a)(1) (West 2003). The ADEA makes it "unlawful for an employer ... to discharge any individual ... because of such individual's age." 29 U.S.C.A. § 623(a)(1) (West 1999).

Before a plaintiff may file suit under Title VII or the ADEA, he is required to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. See 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-5(f)(1) (West 2003) (Title VII); 29 U.S.C.A. § 626(d) (West 1999) (ADEA). Title VII establishes two possible limitation periods for filing a discrimination charge with the EEOC. See 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-5(e)(1). "The basic limitations period is 180 days after the alleged unlawful employment practice. However, the limitations period is extended to 300 days when state law proscribes the alleged employment practice and the charge has initially been filed with a state deferral agency." Tinsley v. First Union Nat'l Bank, 155 F.3d 435, 439 (4th Cir.1998). The same limitation periods apply regarding ADEA claims. See 29 U.S.C.A. § 626(d). The 300-day period applies in this case.

The charge must be in writing and verified under oath or affirmation under penalty of perjury. See Edelman v. Lynchburg College, 535 U.S. 106, 112, 122 S.Ct. 1145, 152 L.Ed.2d 188 (2002). A charge is sufficient "only if it is `sufficiently precise to identify the parties, and to describe generally the action or practices complained of.'" Chacko v. Patuxent Inst., 429 F.3d 505, 508 (4th Cir.2005) (quoting 29 C.F.R. § 1601.12(b) (2004)). The scope of the plaintiff's right to file a federal lawsuit is determined by the charge's contents. See Bryant v. Bell Atl. Md., Inc., 288 F.3d 124, 132 (4th Cir.2002). "Only those discrimination claims stated in the initial charge, those reasonably related to the original complaint, and those developed by reasonable investigation of the original complaint may be maintained in a subsequent Title VII lawsuit." Evans v. Techs. Applications & Serv. Co., 80 F.3d 954, 963 (4th Cir.1996). Thus, a claim in formal litigation will generally be barred if the EEOC charge alleges discrimination on one basis, such as race, and the formal litigation claim alleges discrimination on a separate basis, such as sex. See id.; Bryant, 288 F.3d at 132-33.

Importantly, a failure by the plaintiff to exhaust administrative remedies concerning a Title VII claim deprives the federal courts of subject matter jurisdiction over the claim. See Davis v. North Carolina Dep't of Corr., 48 F.3d 134, 138-40 (4th Cir.1995) (holding that removal of Title VII action was improper because plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies deprived the federal courts of subject matter jurisdiction).² The same is true of claims made under the ADEA. See 29 U.S.C.A. § 626(d); Vance v. Whirlpool Corp., 707 F.2d 483, 486-89 (4th Cir.1983) (holding that plaintiff's failure to wait 60 days after filing federal administrative charge before bringing suit in federal district court deprived district court of subject matter jurisdiction).

A.

Jones first contends that the district court erred in ruling that because the second charge did not allege discrimination on the basis of age, sex, or race, she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies for those claims. We disagree.

The second charge alleged that Jones was being retaliated against because she had filed the first charge; it did not allege that she was discriminated against based on her age, sex, or race. Indeed, she checked only the "retaliation" box on her EEOC charge and left unchecked the boxes for "age," "sex," or "race." The district court therefore properly determined that Jones failed to exhaust her administrative remedies with regard to those claims. See Evans, 80 F.3d at 963.

Jones nevertheless maintains that even if she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies regarding these claims, the district court erred in entering judgment against her on the merits. On this point we agree with Jones. Because Jones's failure to exhaust administrative remedies deprived the district court of subject matter jurisdiction over the claims, "the only function remaining to the court [wa]s that of announcing the fact and dismissing the cause[s]." Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 94, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998). Thus, the district court had no authority to award judgment on the merits. See Sinochem Int'l Co. Ltd. v. Malaysia Int'l Shipping Corp., 549 U.S. 422, 127 S.Ct. 1184, 1191, 167 L.Ed.2d 15 (2007); see also Vance, 707 F.2d at 489. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment against Jones on those claims and remand to the district court to dismiss them for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

B.

Jones next contends that the district court erred in ruling that she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies with regard to the retaliation claim. We agree.

Jones specifically argues that the district court's ruling is at odds with our decision in Nealon v. Stone, 958 F.2d 584 (4th Cir.1992). In Nealon, a public sector Title VII case, the plaintiff filed an EEOC charge alleging that the U.S. Army had violated her rights under the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII, by paying her less than it paid a man who performed a similar job. After the EEOC made a finding of no reasonable cause, the plaintiff filed a complaint in federal court alleging Equal Pay Act and Title VII violations and alleging, for the first time, that she was retaliated against in violation of Title VII for filing the earlier EEOC charge.³ On appeal from the district court's dismissal of the retaliation claim for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, we explained that our circuit had previously left open the...