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When charging party refuses to cooperate with EEOC
July 31, 2006 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
If a charging party refuses to cooperate with an EEOC investigation, can she still bring a court case? Circuits are split.
The 10th Circuit has said either cooperate or you can't sue. Shikles v. Sprint/United Management (10th Cir 2005). Quoting the 10th Circuit:
We hold that (1) the ADEA requires a private sector claimant to cooperate with the EEOC in order to exhaust his or her administrative remedies; (2) a plaintiff's exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit under the ADEA; and (3) a plaintiff's failure to exhaust his or her administrative remedies does not justify granting summary judgment to the defendant, but rather justifies dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction.
The 7th Circuit disagrees. You can sue even if you didn't cooperate with the EEOC investigation. Doe v. Oberweis Dairy (7th Cir 07/28/2006).
In the Doe case (involving Title VII) the 7th Circuit pointed out that the text of Title VII does not require a charging party to cooperate. In addition, EEOC regulations do not make cooperation a condition of the charging party's being able to sue.
My view: It's always nice to see a court (here, the 7th Circuit) that can read a statute and a regulation rather than making up its own rules.
More discussion of this: Statutory Rape and Title VII -- But Much More from the 7th Circuit from Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer
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