In this case, 196 countable days had elapsed under the parties’ employment agreement, purportedly precluding suit.
The Fourth Circuit has joined the Sixth Circuit in holding that private parties may not prospectively shorten the time Congress gave employees to sue their employers under Title VII or the ADEA. In a case in which a litigant had signed an employment agreement limiting her time to bring an employment-related action to 180 calendar days after the event allegedly giving rise to it, the appeals court found that “judicial enforcement of such agreements would disrupt the relevant statutes’ carefully integrated and uniform remedial schemes” (Thomas v. EOTech, LLC, No. 25-1094 (4th Cir. Mar. 4, 2026)).
Employment agreement with EOTech. The plaintiff, according to the court, used to work for EOTech, LLC, and before starting her job, she signed an employer-drafted document that included language purporting to shorten the time she would otherwise have to sue EOTech for any disputes “relating to [her] employment.”
180 days. Specifically, the document’s “Limitations Agreement” paragraph stated that, as a condition of employment or continued employment, the employee agreed “not to file any action or suit relating to my employment more than 180 calendar days after the event and/or employment practice or action complained of including, but not limited to, employment termination and discrimination claims, claims for wages, salary, commissions, or expenses, and to waive any...
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