Time Limitations for Title Vii Charges
| Publication year | 1985 |
| Pages | 47 |
| Citation | Vol. 14 No. 1 Pg. 47 |
1985, January, Pg. 47. Time Limitations for Title VII Charges
Confusion and uncertainty have been companions of the time limitations for filing a charge of employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII").(fn1) Twenty years have elapsed since the passage of Title VII, yet the courts are still giving instruction on this subject. In April 1984 in the case of Smith v. Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, Inc.,(fn2) the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed a twelve-year-old decision and rearticulated the application of Title VII's time limitations. This article surveys the rules for filing a timely Title VII charge in Colorado in light of this recent decision.
Under Title VII, a charge of employment discrimination must be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") within 180 days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred, except where the person aggrieved has initially instituted proceedings with a state or local agency with authority to grant or seek relief from such practice.(fn3) In this case, the person aggrieved may file a charge with the EEOC within 300 days after the unlawful employment practice, or within thirty days after receiving notice that the state or local agency has terminated its proceedings, whichever is earlier.(fn4)
These state or local agencies are commonly referred to as "706 Agencies," and Colorado has such an agency, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission ("CCRC"). Under Colorado law, a charge of employment discrimination must be filed with the CCRC within six months after the alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice occurs.(fn5)
However, it should be noted that a Title VII charge may not be filed with the EEOC before the expiration of sixty days after proceedings have been commenced with the 706 Agency, unless such proceedings have been earlier terminated.(fn6) This deferral requirement is intended to allow the dispute to be resolved at a local level. States which have a 706 Agency are commonly referred to as "deferral states."
The requirement that a charge be "initially" filed with a 706 Agency in order to take advantage of the extended 300-day filing period was relaxed in Love v. Pullman Co.(fn7) In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court approved the EEOC's procedure of forwarding charges initially filed with the EEOC to the 706 Agency on the complainant's behalf, and then holding such charges in "suspended animation" until the deferral requirements were met.
The interaction among the deferral requirements of Title VII, state limitation periods for filing charges with a 706 Agency, and the 180/300-day periods for filing charges under Title VII has resulted in a plethora of published opinions from all levels of federal courts. Some courts, including the Eighth Circuit in Olson v. Rembrandt Printing Co.,(fn8) held that federal law requires a state charge to be filed within 180 days for the 300-day period to apply for filing a federal charge. Other courts, including the Tenth Circuit in Dubois v. Packard Bell Corp.,(fn9) held that the 300-day period for filing a federal charge does not apply unless a state charge has been filed which is timely under state law.
The Olson holding was specifically disapproved by the Supreme Court in Mohasco Corp. v. Silver.(fn10) In Mohasco, Silver submitted a charge to the EEOC 291 days after his...
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