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Cert granted in Title VII statute of limitations case
September 30, 2009 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
In a disparate impact case, is the Title VII statute of limitations measured from announcement, or use, of unlawful practice?
That's the question the US Supreme Court will address in Lewis v. City of Chicago (Certiorari granted 09/30/2009) [briefs etc.]
The City administered a written test to firefighter job applicants in 1995. The City notified applicants of the results at the end of January 1996. Plaintiffs filed an EEOC charge on March 21, 1997 claiming that the test had a disparate impact on black applicants and was not a valid test of firefighting aptitude.
The charge was filed more than 400 days after the plaintiffs were notified, but within 300 days of the City's beginning to hire applicants. The trial court ruled that each hiring was a fresh violation of Title VII, so the plaintiffs' suit was timely.
The 7th Circuit reversed, finding that "discrimination was complete when the tests were scored" and "was discovered when the applicants learned the results." Therefore, the EEOC charge was not filed on time.
The 7th Circuit rejected plaintiffs' alternative arguments that the City's violation was a "continuing violation," and that the running of the statute of limitations should be tolled under that doctrine of equitable tolling.
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the 7th Circuit judgment.
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