U.S. Supreme Court adopts middle standard for age discrimination complaints.

Byline: David Ziemer

In order for an employee's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) to constitute a charge, it must be reasonably construed as a request for the agency to take remedial action.

In so holding on Feb. 27, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted the same standard the Seventh Circuit has been employing for years. However, the Seventh Circuit may have to change the way it applies that standard in practice.

The Supreme Court set forth its holding as follows: In addition to the information required by the regulations, i.e., an allegation and the name of the charged party, if a filing is to be deemed a charge it must be reasonably construed as a request for the agency to take remedial action to protect the employee's rights or otherwise settle a dispute between the employer and the employee.

In the Supreme Court case, 14 employees of Federal Express Corporation filed a complaint with the EEOC, alleging that a recent initiative was a pretext for harassing older employees and constituted age discrimination.

They filled out a Form 283 Intake Questionnaire and an affidavit; the EEOC took no action; and after waiting 60 days, the employees filed suit under the ADEA. The district court determined the questionnaire and affidavit were insufficient to constitute a charge under the ADEA, and granted Federal Express's motion to dismiss.

The Second Circuit reversed, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted review. The Court affirmed, in a decision by Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissent, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia.

The circuit courts of appeal had adopted three different tests for whether a complaint is a charge under the ADEA, which does not define the term. The interpretation preferred by employees considers all completed questionnaires as charges. The interpretation employers prefer states that a questionnaire is not a charge unless the EEOC acts on it.

Finally, the middle-ground interpretation determines a questionnaire is a charge if it expresses the filer's intent to activate the EEOC's enforcement processes. The last interpretation is the one that had been adopted by the Seventh Circuit in Steffen v. Meridian Life Ins. Co., 859 F2d 534, 542 (7th Cir. 1988), and the one the U.S. Supreme Court has now adopted.

Applying that standard to the Federal Express employees, the court concluded the complaint expressed intent to activate enforcement, thus...