Supreme Court to Rule on Issues Affecting Age Discrimination Claims
On November 6, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki. The case considers what procedures a plaintiff must follow in order to successfully invoke her rights under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) - the federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees aged 40 and over on the basis of age.
In 2001, Patricia Kennedy filed an “intake questionnaire” with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) alleging age discrimination by her employer, Federal Express Corporation (”FedEx”), against her and other couriers. Because she did not file a formal “charge” document, the EEOC did not notify FedEx, investigate the claims, or begin conciliation efforts.
Five months later, Kennedy, along with 13 other past and present FedEx couriers over the age of 40, filed suit over this issue in federal court. The trial court granted FedEx’s motion to dismiss, ruling (among other things) that Kennedy could not sue because she never filed a timely charge with the EEOC as required by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (”ADEA”). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed, holding that Kennedy’s intake questionnaire is a “charge” for the ADEA’s purpose because it manifests her intent to activate the EEOC’s investigation and conciliation process.
The Supreme Court now takes up the question of whether, “even in the absence of evidence that the EEOC treated the form as a charge or the employee submitting the questionnaire reasonably believed it constituted a charge”, an intake questionnaire meets the requirements of a discrimination “charge”.
