Tulloss v. Near North Montessori School, Inc.

• Decision Date: 29 October 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-2592,84-2592
• Citation: 776 F.2d 150
• Parties: 39 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 418, 38 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,724, 28 Ed. Law Rep. 150, 19 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1160 Ijya TULLOSS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NEAR NORTH MONTESSORI SCHOOL, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 150

776 F.2d 150

39 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 418,

38 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,724, 28 Ed. Law Rep. 150,

19 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1160

Ijya TULLOSS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NEAR NORTH MONTESSORI SCHOOL, INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 84-2592.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 17, 1985.

Decided Oct. 29, 1985.

Ernest T. Rossiello, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.

Stephen Stern, Mitchell & Black, P.C., Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellee.

Before ESCHBACH, EASTERBROOK and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff, Ijya Tulloss, instituted suit against Near North Montessori School, Inc. (Near North) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2(a)(1) and (2) (1981) (Title VII). Mrs. Tulloss alleged that she was not rehired by Near North because of a pattern of discrimination against her based on her Philippine Islands national origin. Following a bench trial, the district court, finding that Near North's actions were taken for nondiscriminatory reasons, entered judgment for the defendant. Plaintiff appeals the district court's refusal to admit into evidence the determination of reasonable cause and the investigative file of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), its failure to discuss whether she had established a prima facie case, and its finding that defendant's actions were not motivated by a discriminatory intent. We affirm.

FACTS

Plaintiff, Ijya Tulloss, a woman born in Manila, Philippines, is a citizen of the United States. Near North, the defendant, is an Illinois corporation which operates a Montessori elementary school in Chicago. Mrs. Tulloss was employed by Near North for ten years before her termination in 1976. She holds an American Montessori Society teacher's certificate and is certified to teach elementary school in the state of Illinois. Generally, her evaluations reflected favorably upon her efficacy as an educator. In fact, Mrs. Tulloss taught without incident until her final year at Near North.

During the 1975-1976 school year, certain disciplinary actions taken by plaintiff against her students were brought to the attention of the school's board of directors. There were five such actions. According to the district court, plaintiff was accused of tying a child to a chair with a piece of yarn, hitting or "tapping" a child with a shoe, using threatening words with a pupil, humiliating one of her students and withholding lunch as a form of punishment. Although no formal complaints were lodged by the parents of the children involved, these actions, which were allegedly in direct violation of Montessori teaching methods, caused certain school board members to seek an informal meeting with plaintiff to settle the matter. When plaintiff refused to meet informally, she was asked to appear before the joint committee of the board to discuss informally the alleged incidents. Again, plaintiff refused to meet.

Finally, plaintiff was personally notified that a school board meeting had been called for April 12, 1976 to discuss the incidents. Plaintiff brought to the meeting members of the press, an attorney and a court reporter. Nothing was resolved at the meeting because of the hostility between the factions present. The school board took the position that its questions regarding the disciplinary measures taken by Mrs. Tulloss were not being answered; plaintiff believed that she was a victim of discriminatory practices by the board.

As a result of the unsuccessful April 12, 1976 meeting, the school board recommended to the school that plaintiff's contract not be renewed because of her refusal to discuss her disciplinary practices. Thereafter, plaintiff was advised by letter that her contract would not be renewed.

Mrs. Tulloss filed charges against Near North with the EEOC alleging that she was terminated because of her national origin. Upon receipt of a right to sue letter from the EEOC on August 6, 1981, plaintiff filed a timely claim under Title VII in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Following a thirteen day trial, the district judge ruled in favor of the defendant. This appeal is taken from that judgment.

I. ADMISSIBILITY OF THE EEOC'S DETERMINATION AND INVESTIGATORY FILE

On this appeal, plaintiff claims that it was reversible error for the district court to refuse to consider the EEOC's determination of reasonable cause and that agency's entire investigative file. She alleges that the information contained in the file would have corroborated her claim and mandated judgment in her favor.

The role of the EEOC file in Title VII litigation can best be assessed by recalling the role of the EEOC in the overall statutory scheme enacted by the Congress. The EEOC operates to investigate claims of discrimination, to promote conciliation and to institute civil suits against employers or unions which have been charged with discriminatory practices. Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36, 44, 94 S.Ct. 1011, 1017-18, 39 L.Ed.2d 147 (1974). The proceedings before the EEOC are nonbinding and nonadjudicative in nature. Id. Congress considered providing the EEOC with cease and desist authority and an adjudicative function comparable to that of the National Labor Relations Board. It also considered limiting the scope of judicial review in order to expedite the processing of claims. See H.R.Rep. No. 238, 92d Cong., 1st Sess. 8-12, reprinted in 1972 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 2137, 2143-47. Proponents of this approach believed that it would encourage judicial economy and would maximize the benefit derived from the agency's expertise. Id. However, this approach was soundly rejected. Instead, Congress opted for full judicial review on the merits of the claims. Thus, the fact-finder is a district judge rather than an administrative agency hearing officer. Id. at 58-63, reprinted in 1972 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 2167-72. Consequently, in determining the admissibility of EEOC records at a trial in a United States district court, we must "ever be mindful that Congress, in enacting Title VII, thought it necessary to provide a judicial forum for the ultimate resolution of discriminatory employment claims. It is the duty of courts to assure the full availability of this forum." Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. at 60 n. 21, 94 S.Ct. at 1025 n. 21. It is against this background that we must assess the district judge's actions with respect to the EEOC's determination of reasonable cause and its investigatory files. We shall deal with each of these separately.

A. EEOC DETERMINATIONS OF REASONABLE CAUSE

The Supreme Court has determined that administrative findings regarding claims of discrimination are generally admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 803(8)(C) (the public records and investigatory file exception to the hearsay rule) in a trial de novo. Chandler v. Roudebush, 425 U.S. 840, 863 n. 39, 96 S.Ct. 1949, 1961 n. 39, 48 L.Ed.2d 416 (1976). ¹ This exception is applicable "unless the sources of information or other circumstances indicate lack of trustworthiness." Fed.R.Evid. 803(8)(C). Of course, a court must always determine whether the prejudicial effect of admitting such unreliable information may outweigh its probative value and thereby render it inadmissible under Fed.R.Evid. 403. See Johnson v. Yellow Freight System, Inc., 734 F.2d 1304, 1309-10 (8th Cir.1984).

Only two circuits have held that EEOC determinations of reasonable cause that there has been a violation of the Act are per se admissible in Title VII cases. Garcia v. Gloor, 618 F.2d 264, 272 (5th Cir.1980); Bradshaw v. Zoological Society of San Diego, 569 F.2d 1066, 1069 (9th Cir.1978). However, in Bradshaw, the court added that the district court was free to determine the weight to assign to the evidence. 569 F.2d at 1069. In an earlier case, the Fifth Circuit similarly decided that, while it was error to exclude the EEOC's report, the weight to be accorded the report was within the sound discretion of the district court judge. Smith v. Universal Services, Inc., 454 F.2d 154, 157-58 (5th Cir.1972) (quoting Puggioni v. Luchenbach Steamship Co., 286 F.2d 340, 344 (2d Cir.1961)). Other circuits which have considered the admissibility of the agency's determination or report have concluded that such decisions should be left to the discretion of the district judge. See Johnson v. Yellow Freight System, Inc., 734 F.2d 1304, 1309 (8th Cir.1984); Whatley v. Skaggs Cos., 707 F.2d 1129, 1137 (10th Cir.1983); Georator Corp. v. EEOC, 592 F.2d 765, 769 (4th Cir.1979); Walton v. Eaton Corp., 563 F.2d 66, 75 (3d Cir.1977); Heard v. Mueller Co., 464 F.2d 190, 194 (6th Cir.1972).

This circuit has yet to choose between these two approaches. While the two are theoretically different, they are functionally similar. Even in those circuits in which EEOC determinations are per se admissible, the trial judge has the discretion to give as much or as little weight to them as he deems appropriate. Therefore, in all circuits, the trial judge has, as a practical matter, great discretion in his treatment of this material.

We believe that this fundamental reliance on the discretion of the trial judge in all circuits reduces this "conflict" to a largely academic issue. Moreover, we believe that such reliance on the trial judge is both compatible with the Supreme Court's view in Chandler v. Roudebush, 425 U.S. 840, 96 S.Ct. 1949, 48 L.Ed.2d 446 (1976), and with common sense. Chandler does not foreclose the trial judge's discretion to limit the report "if sufficient negative factors are present." Fed.R.Evid. 803(8)(C) (Notes of Advisory Committee on Proposed Rules). As the Eighth Circuit noted in a slightly different context, "EEOC determinations are not homogeneous products; they vary greatly in quality and factual detail." Johnson v. Yellow Freight System, Inc., 734 F.2d 1304, 1309 (8th Cir.1984). ² Similarly, we believe that a trial judge's...