Big Interest in Form Employment Case
Interest in a U.S. Supreme Court employment case that focuses on an obscure issue is high after a decision last term that restricted the time frame for filing pay discrimination suits.
The seats reserved for lawyers were nearly full when the Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in the case, Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki, the New York Times reports.
The court ruled in May in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire that the time for filing a pay discrimination complaint begins running with the original salary decision and there is not a new violation with each new paycheck.
At issue in the new case is whether a group of age discrimination plaintiffs may sue Federal Express even though they failed to fill out the official Form 5 charging discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Lead plaintiff Patricia Kennedy had instead filled out Form 283, the intake questionnaire.
The law requires plaintiffs to wait 60 days after filing an EEOC discrimination charge before filing suit. The EEOC contends Form 283 was sufficient, since it contained enough information to indicate the employees intended to pursue a case.
Many of the justices chastised the EEOC for inconsistencies in processing claims, Law.com reports. “It’s the agency’s fault, and this scheme has to be revised,” said Justice Antonin Scalia. But Justice Clarence Thomas, who was chair of the EEOC from 1982 to 1990, did not ask any questions, as is his usual practice.
The U.S. Supreme Court has posted the argument transcript (PDF).
