Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-07-03055/USCOURTS-ca10-07-03055-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 

---

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined *

unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of

this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is

therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is

not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata,

and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value

consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. 

FILED

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

October 10, 2007

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

QUINCY GERALD KEELER,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

CEREAL FOOD PROCESSORS,

Defendant-Appellee.

No. 07-3055

(D.C. No. 06-CV-1062-JTM)

(D. Kan.)

ORDER AND JUDGMENT

*

Before PORFILIO, ANDERSON, and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges.

Quincy Gerald Keeler appeals pro se from the district court’s dismissal of

his discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,

42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2 and 2000e-3. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.

§ 1291, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 1 
-2-

Background

Mr. Keeler began work as a temporary employee for Cereal Food

Processors (CFP) in February 2003. He became a full-time employee in June

2003 and continued to work for CFP until he was terminated in December 2004. 

Mr. Keeler filed four charges of discrimination with the Kansas Human Rights

Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) related

to his employment with CFP. He filed his First Charge in February 2004,

claiming that CFP discriminated against him based on his race (African

American) and his age (twenty-six years old at the time), in temporarily laying

him off in December 2003, while retaining an older, Caucasian employee with

less seniority. He alleged that he filed a grievance with CFP management

concerning his layoff and that CFP subsequently forced him to perform dangerous

work in retaliation for having openly opposed CFP’s discriminatory acts and

practices. He later amended his First Charge to add a claim of retaliation for

complaining to CFP management about incidents of sexual harassment.

Mr. Keeler filed his Second Charge in August 2004, claiming that CFP

accused him of making threats of violence, placed him on a paid leave of absence,

and required him to see a psychiatrist. He alleged discrimination by CFP based

on a perceived disability and in retaliation for filing his First Charge. In

November 2004 he filed his Third Charge, again alleging retaliation by CFP based

upon his filing of the First Charge. He claimed that on specified dates in

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 2 
-3-

February, July, August, and September, 2004, CFP criticized his job performance

and reprimanded him for his attendance, in retaliation for his discrimination

complaint.

The EEOC issued a right-to-sue letter on Mr. Keeler’s Second Charge on

October 19, 2004, but he did not file a lawsuit within ninety days of his receipt of

that letter. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1) (providing civil action may be brought

within ninety days of notice of right to sue by EEOC). CFP terminated Mr.

Keeler’s employment in December 2004. Several months later, on April 26,

2005, the EEOC issued right-to-sue letters on his First and Third Charges. He

filed his Fourth Charge in June 2005, alleging that he was terminated by CFP on

December 17, 2004, in retaliation for having filed his Third Charge.

Mr. Keeler filed his First Action in district court on July 25, 2005, alleging

race discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII. In his complaint he

identified CFP’s discriminatory conduct as his termination, his layoff in

December 2003, and retaliation. He alleged that CFP retaliated against him for

his complaints about the layoff and sexual harassment, and he attached a lengthy

letter further detailing his allegations. The district court dismissed the First

Action on September 13, 2005, after Mr. Keeler failed to specify his expenses in

support of his Application for Leave to File Action Without Payment of Fees,

Costs, or Security. He did not appeal that dismissal.

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 3 
-4-

The EEOC issued a right-to-sue letter on Mr. Keeler’s Fourth Charge on

December 19, 2005, and he filed this action in district court on March 16, 2006. 

His complaints in this action and his First Action are substantially identical. CFP

moved for judgment on the pleadings under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c), arguing that

this action should be dismissed as time-barred because Mr. Keeler failed to file it

within ninety days of receiving the applicable right-to-sue letters, or alternatively

that certain claims should be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative

remedies.

The district court granted CFP’s motion. It initially held that all of the

claims alleged in Mr. Keeler’s First, Second, and Third Charges were time-barred

because he failed to file this action within ninety days of his receipt of any of the

right-to-sue letters on those charges. Although he had filed the First Action

within ninety days of the April 26, 2004, right-to-sue letters on his First and Third

Charges, the district court held that its dismissal of that case without prejudice

did not toll the statutory filing deadline under Title VII. See Brown v. Hartshorne

Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 926 F.2d 959, 961 (10th Cir. 1991) (Brown II) (“Courts

have specifically held that the filing of a complaint that is dismissed without

prejudice does not toll the statutory filing period of Title VII.”) Mr. Keeler does

not identify any error in this portion of the district court’s ruling and we therefore

affirm the dismissal of his claims alleged in his First, Second, and Third Charges

as untimely.

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 4 
-5-

The district court further concluded that Mr. Keeler’s claim of retaliatory

termination was time-barred because it was encompassed by his Third Charge:

[P]laintiff’s claim of retaliation based on his 2004 termination should

also be dismissed, since the plaintiff treated this claim as part of his

first lawsuit and, therefore, failed to file this lawsuit within 90 days

of receiving a Notice of Rights. The plaintiff included precisely the

same allegation in his first lawsuit, which was filed seven months

after he was terminated from Cereal Food, and one month after he

filed his fourth administrative charge. The plaintiff’s allegation of

termination was encompassed by his third charge. See Brown [v.

Hartshorne Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 1], 864 F.2d [680] at 682 (10th Cir.

1988) (Title VII claims may “encompass any discrimination like or

reasonably related to the allegations of the EEOC charge, including

new acts occurring during the pendency of the charge before the

EEOC”). Here, the plaintiff used his third administrative charge as

the basis for raising precisely the claim of retaliatory termination

now in issue.

R., Vol. II, Doc. 23 at 4. Mr. Keeler challenges this ruling on appeal, contending

that the district court erred in dismissing his termination claim because he filed

this action within ninety days of receiving the right-to-sue letter on his Fourth

Charge.

Discussion

We review de novo a district court’s ruling on a motion for judgment on the

pleadings under Rule 12(c). Nelson v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 419 F.3d

1117, 1119 (10th Cir. 2005). The district court determined that Mr. Keeler’s

retaliatory termination claim was untimely under the ninety-day time period for

filing an action pursuant to § 2000e-5(f)(1), which is “in the nature of a statute of

limitations.” Biester v. Midwest Health Servs., Inc., 77 F.3d 1264, 1267

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 5 
-6-

(10th Cir. 1996). Whether a district court properly applied a statute of limitations

is a question of law we review de novo. Nelson, 419 F.3d at 1119.

In dismissing Mr. Keeler’s termination claim as time-barred, the district

court emphasized his inclusion of that claim in his First Action. While

acknowledging that Mr. Keeler had filed his Fourth Charge alleging retaliatory

termination only a month before he filed the First Action, the court nonetheless

concluded it was administratively exhausted because it was encompassed by his

Third Charge. For this proposition, the court relied on Brown v. Hartshorne

Public School District No. 1 (Brown I), 864 F.2d 680, 682 (10th Cir. 1988), which

held that “when an employee seeks judicial relief for incidents not listed in his

original charge to the EEOC, the judicial complaint nevertheless may encompass

any discrimination like or reasonably related to the allegations of the EEOC

charge, including new acts occurring during the pendency of the charge.” 

Id. at 682 (quotation and brackets omitted). Therefore, the district court

concluded that Mr. Keeler’s termination claim was untimely because he failed to

file it within ninety days of his receipt of the right-to-sue letter on his Third

Charge.

We respectfully disagree. Under Martinez v. Potter, 347 F.3d 1208

(10th Cir. 2003), the district court’s reliance on Brown I is misplaced. As we

recognized in Martinez, the Supreme Court in National Railroad Passenger Corp.

v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101 (2002), “effected fundamental changes to the doctrine

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 6 
-7-

allowing administratively unexhausted claims in Title VII actions.” 347 F.3d at

1210. In Martinez, the plaintiff sought to litigate claims of retaliatory treatment

that he never included in a formal charge. Id. The district court granted the

defendant’s summary judgment motion, reasoning that the plaintiff had failed to

exhaust administrative remedies with respect to the additional claims “because

they were not like or reasonably related to the allegations in [his formal charge].” 

Id.

Although we agreed with its result, we parted company with the district

court on its reasoning in Martinez: “Morgan abrogates the continuing violation

doctrine as previously applied to claims of discriminatory or retaliatory actions by

employers, and replaces it with the teaching that each discrete incident of such

treatment constitutes its own unlawful employment practice for which

administrative remedies must be exhausted.” Id. (quotation omitted). In Morgan

the Supreme Court observed that “[d]iscrete acts such as termination, failure to

promote, denial of transfer, or refusal to hire are easy to identify,” and it held that

a charge could only encompass discrete, discriminatory acts that occurred within

the statutory time period for filing a charge. 536 U.S. at 114. The Court reversed

the court of appeals’ holding, which relied upon the continuing violation doctrine

to bring prior discrete acts within a later-filed charge. Id.

In Martinez, we applied the rule stated in Morgan “to discrete claims based

on incidents occurring after the filing of [a formal charge].” 347 F.3d at 1210-11

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 7 
We recognized in Martinez that this holding does not apply to hostile work 1

environment claims. See 347 F.3d at 1211. But, as in Martinez, that type of

claim is not before us in this case. See id. Although Mr. Keeler’s charges alleged

what could be characterized as “an ongoing pattern of retaliation,” id., he did not

file any charge alleging that he was subject to a hostile work environment.

-8-

(emphasis in original). Thus, we recognized that the “continuing violation

theory,” as applied in Brown I and the other prior decisions we cited, was no

longer applicable to claims regarding discrete acts. See id. at 1210-11.1

We conclude, therefore, that the district court erred in its determination that

Mr. Keeler’s Third Charge encompassed his retaliatory termination claim because

it was like or reasonably related to the allegations in that charge. Under

Martinez, Mr. Keeler’s Third Charge could not encompass his later-occurring,

discrete claim regarding his termination; instead, he was required to file a

separate charge with respect to that claim. See id. He fulfilled that requirement

by filing his Fourth Charge. But at the time he filed his First Action, he had not

fully exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to that charge because he

had not yet received a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC, nor had the 180-day

waiting period under § 2000e-5(f)(1) expired. See EEOC v. W.H. Braum, Inc.,

347 F.3d 1192, 1200 (10th Cir. 2003) (“The EEOC has exclusive jurisdiction over

a claim during the 180 days following the filing of a charge . . . . During this time

an individual employee may not bring suit in federal court.”); cf. Stone v. Dep’t of

Aviation, 453 F.3d 1271, 1276-77 (10th Cir. 2006) (holding ADA claim had not

“matured” and was subject to dismissal prior to receipt of right-to-sue letter). 

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 8 
-9-

Mr. Keeler’s termination claim did not become ripe for filing until after the

dismissal of the First Action, when he received his right-to-sue letter on his

Fourth Charge. He filed this action within ninety days of receiving that letter. 

Accordingly, the district court erred in dismissing his termination claim as

untimely.

CFP contends that our holding in Martinez does not apply in this case

because Mr. Keeler represented to the district court in his First Action that he had

exhausted his administrative remedies. Thus, CFP argues that Mr. Keeler should

not now be permitted to assert his own non-compliance with the exhaustion

requirement in his First Action as a basis to save his termination claim in this

action from being time-barred. But the exhaustion requirement is “a

jurisdictional prerequisite to suit under Title VII–not merely a condition

precedent to suit.” Shikles v. Sprint/United Mgmt. Co., 426 F.3d 1304, 1317

(10th Cir. 2005). Therefore, had the district court not dismissed Mr. Keeler’s

First Action on procedural grounds, his retaliatory termination claim in that action

would nevertheless have been subject to dismissal for lack of subject-matter

jurisdiction, regardless of any representation he made about exhaustion of

administrative remedies. See Mosley v. Pena, 100 F.3d 1515, 1517, 1519

(10th Cir. 1996) (affirming dismissal of “prematurely filed” complaint for failure

to exhaust administrative remedies). Just as Mr. Keeler’s representations could

not make his otherwise-premature claim ripe for filing, we decline to hold that

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 9 
-10-

they preclude him from litigating his termination claim once his administrative

remedies were exhausted.

Conclusion

The district court’s dismissal of Mr. Keeler’s retaliatory termination claim

alleged in his Fourth Charge is REVERSED and REMANDED for further

proceedings consistent with this order and judgment. This district court’s

dismissal of Mr. Keeler’s other claims is AFFIRMED.

Entered for the Court

John C. Porfilio

Circuit Judge

Appellate Case: 07-3055 Document: 010147915 Date Filed: 10/10/2007 Page: 10