A New York federal court recently ruled in Cecilia Prichard v. Long Island University that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) must conduct a fulsome investigation of an employee’s allegations of discrimination before authorizing the employee to file a lawsuit in federal court. The decision directly conflicts with decisions issued in the Second, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, setting up a Circuit split ripe for resolution by the Supreme Court as to whether the EEOC charge investigation process is merely a check-the-box exercise or a Congressional mandate to thoroughly investigate employee claims of discrimination.
First, some procedural background: Before a U.S. employee may file a lawsuit alleging discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, disability, and other protected statuses, they must first file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. The charge-filing process allows the EEOC to investigate whether there is reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred and, if the agency wishes, to pursue relief on the employee’s behalf. If the EEOC finds no reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred, it will dismiss the charge and issue a Notice of Right to Sue (“NRTS”) to the would-be litigant. The NRTS is an administrative prerequisite to filing a lawsuit predicated on the allegations of discrimination therein.
Per federal regulations, the EEOC has 180 days from the date on which the employee files their charge to complete its...
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