2007 Decisions

Opinions of the United

States Court of Appeals

for the Third Circuit

9-17-2007

Ruehl v. Viacom Inc

Precedential or Non-Precedential: Precedential

Docket No. 06-1463

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* Honorable John R. Padova, District Judge for the United

States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,

sitting by designation. 

1

PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

 

No. 06-1463

 

JAMES H. RUEHL

v.

VIACOM, INC., successor by merger to CBS CORPORATION, 

f/k/a WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION,

Appellant.

 

On Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Pennsylvania

(D.C. No. 04-cv-0075)

District Judge: Honorable Donetta Ambrose

 

Argued December 12, 2006

Before: FUENTES and VAN ANTWERPEN, Circuit Judges,

and PADOVA, District Judge. *

(Filed: September 7, 2007 )
2

Glen D. Nager (Argued)

Lawrence D. Rosenberg

Julia C. Ambrose

Thomas J. Davis

Jones Day

51 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20001-2113

Amy E. Dias

Jones Day

31st Floor, One Mellon Ctr.

500 Grant Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Attorneys for Defendant-Appellant

Gary F. Lynch (Argued)

Carlson Lynch Ltd.

36 N. Jefferson Street

P.O. Box 7635

New Castle, PA 16107

Colleen Ramage Johnston

Rothman Gordon, P.C.

310 Grant Street, 3d Floor

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellee

Robin S. Conrad

Shane Brennan

National Chamber Litigation Center, Inc.

1615 H Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20062

 Counsel for Amicus Curiae, Chamber of Commerce of the

 United States of America
 For most of his career Ruehl worked for Westinghouse 1

Electric Corporation (“WEC”). WEC was later purchased by CBS

Corporation, which was succeeded via merger by Viacom, Inc. For

ease of reference, we will refer to the defendant-appellant as

“Viacom.”

 The record supports Viacom’s assertion that the meeting 2

was on December 10, 1997, and Ruehl does not dispute that date.

(See App. at 124, 429.)

3

____________

AMENDED OPINION

____________

FUENTES, Circuit Judge.

This is an interlocutory appeal from the District Court’s

denial of Viacom’s summary judgment motion. Viacom seeks to

have James Ruehl’s complaint under the Age Discrimination in

Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq.,

dismissed for failure to timely exhaust administrative remedies

before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”).

The District Court denied summary judgment after concluding that

Ruehl’s failure to exhaust was saved by equitable tolling or, in the

alternative, excused by application of the “single filing rule.” For

the reasons that follow, we disagree with both rulings. We will

reverse the judgment of the District Court and remand for entry of

judgment in favor of Viacom.

I. Background

 Ruehl had worked for Viacom for twenty-four years, when, in

March 1997, he was transferred from his position as director of

accounting in the Energy Systems Business Unit to the tax

department. In “late 1997 or early 1998,” Ruehl attended a 1

meeting at which his supervisors informed him that the tax

department was being eliminated. (App. at 291.) According to 2

Ruehl, “[t]hey just informed me . . . that I was part of the transition

team and that my job would be eliminated on August 31, 1998.”
 Most courts, ours included, have not been methodical in 3

their use of the terms “class action” and “collective action.” The

result is that numerous cases about FLSA “collective actions” use

the Rule 23 term “class action.” Here, we will quote cases that use

the terms interchangeably, and we will refer to members of a

“collective action” as part of a “class,” but we will indicate where

our analysis is limited to collective actions.

4

(Id.) Approximately seven months later, on July 2, 1998, Ruehl

received “[o]fficial notification” that his employment would be

terminated, and that his last day would be August 31, 1998. (App.

at 301.) 

On his last day, Ruehl signed a “Separation Agreement,

General Release And Promise Not to Sue” (the “Release”), which

included a waiver of the right to sue for age discrimination under

the ADEA. Ruehl testified that during the summer of 1998, before

he signed the Release, he began to suspect that his age may have

played a role in Viacom’s decision to terminate him. Other

terminated employees shared his suspicion and, on December 21,

1998, two former Viacom employees, Norman Mueller and Harry

Bellas, filed EEOC charges, alleging that they were terminated as

part of a “pattern and scheme of systematic discrimination against

older workers.” (App. at 151-54.) 

In August 1999, Mueller and Bellas filed a collective action

under the ADEA, in the Western District of Pennsylvania (the

“Mueller-Bellas action”). The ADEA incorporates the collective

action provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29

U.S.C. § 216(b). See 29 U.S.C. § 626(b) (incorporating § 216(b)). 3

Unlike class actions governed by Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure, in which potential class members may “opt out,”

collective actions under the FLSA require potential class members

to notify the court of their desire to “opt in” to the action. See 29

U.S.C. § 216(b) (“No employee shall be a party plaintiff to any

such action unless he gives his consent in writing to become such

a party and such consent is filed in the court in which such action
 See also Whalen v. W.R. Grace & Co., 56 F.3d 504, 506 4

(3d Cir. 1995) (“Section 7(b) of the ADEA incorporates the

enforcement ‘powers, remedies and procedures’ of § 16(b) of the

Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), which provides, in

relevant part, that ‘[a]n action . . . may be maintained . . . by any

one or more employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves

and other employees similarly situated.’”) (quoting § 216(b));

Grayson v. K Mart Corp., 79 F.3d 1086, 1106 (11th Cir. 1996) (“In

creating a collective action procedure for ADEA actions, Congress

clearly adopted the opt-in joinder procedures of section 216(b) of

the FLSA and thus impliedly rejected the Rule 23 [opt-out] class

action procedures applicable to Title VII actions.”).

 Subclass I, relating to Mueller’s and Bellas’s claim of 5

discriminatory termination decisions, was defined as:

All United States citizens employed by

Westinghouse Electric Corporation . . . who were

designated by Westinghouse as “Professionals” or

“Managers” and who were, at any time between

January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1999,

involuntarily terminated from employment with

Westinghouse (or who elected retirement after being

informed that their employment with Westinghouse

was going to be involuntarily terminated) and who

were, at the time of such involuntary termination (or

retirement), 40 years of age or older. 

(App. at 192.) Subclass II, relating to Mueller’s and Bellas’s claim

of discrimination through amendments to the Westinghouse

Pension Plan in 1994, was defined as:

All participants in the Westinghouse Pension Plan

who were 40 years of age or older on January 1,

1995, and who took the “lump sum” option between

5

is brought.”).4

On March 14, 2001, the district court conditionally certified

two sub-classes of plaintiffs in the Mueller-Bellas action. (See 5
January 1995, and December 31, 1999.

(Id.)

6

App. at 191-92.) Ruehl opted in to both subclasses on March 28,

2001. Viacom moved for decertification of the subclasses on May

13, 2002 arguing, among other things, that neither group of

plaintiffs was “similarly situated” (as required for a collective

action under the FLSA or ADEA) “because they have disparate

factual and employment settings, there are substantial conflicts

among members of each subclass, and there are numerous

individualized defenses to their claims.” (App. at 193.) On

December 9, 2002, the district court granted Viacom’s motion,

decertified both subclasses, and dismissed the action in its entirety.

 On March 20, 2003, the opt-in plaintiffs, including Ruehl, were

notified of the decertification. 

Nearly six months later, on October 14, 2003, Ruehl filed

his first, independent charge of age discrimination with the EEOC.

About four months later, on January 20, 2004, he commenced this

action under the ADEA in the Western District of Pennsylvania. 

On August 12, 2004, after limited discovery on whether Ruehl’s

waiver of ADEA claims was valid, Viacom filed a motion for

summary judgment, arguing that Ruehl’s EEOC charge and his

district court complaint were both untimely. On November 18,

2004, the Court denied the motion, holding that despite the facial

untimeliness of Ruehl’s EEOC charge under the ADEA, his claim

could be saved by either the “single filing rule,” which would allow

him to rely on the filing date of Mueller’s timely EEOC charge, or

by equitable tolling based on alleged defects in the Release Ruehl

signed on his last day at Viacom.

On March 9, 2005, the District Court certified its order for

interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), finding

“substantial grounds for a difference of opinion exist as to both

controlling issues of law,” resolution of which “would materially

advance the termination of this litigation” and “three related cases

involving 67 plaintiffs.” (App. at 22-23.) On January 31, 2006, we

granted Viacom’s petition for interlocutory review. This appeal
 Our review of the District Court’s denial of summary 6

judgment is plenary. See Miller v. Bolger, 802 F.2d 660, 662 (3d

Cir. 1986). We apply the same standard as the District Court:

“Summary judgment is appropriate only where, drawing all

reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, there is no

genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is

entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Lexington Ins. Co. v.

Western Pa. Hosp., 423 F.3d 318, 322 n.2 (3d Cir. 2005) (internal

quotation marks omitted). We also exercise plenary review over

the District Court’s choice and interpretation of applicable tolling

principles and its conclusion that facts permit equitable tolling of

the statute of limitations. See Ebbert v. Daimler Chrysler Corp.,

319 F.3d 103, 118 (3d Cir. 2003).

7

followed. 

6

II. Validity of Release of ADEA Claims

As a threshold matter, we will consider the validity of

Ruehl’s waiver of ADEA claims, which forms the basis of his

equitable tolling argument. We agree with the District Court that

the Release Ruehl signed violates the Older Workers Benefit

Protection Act (“OWBPA”), 29 U.S.C. § 626. The OWBPA

imposes specific requirements for releases covering ADEA claims.

In particular, § 626(f)(1)(F) of OWBPA provides that a waiver of

claims is not knowing and voluntary unless, at a minimum, “(i) the

individual is given a period of at least 21 days within which to

consider the agreement; or (ii) if a waiver is requested in

connection with an exit incentive or other employment termination

program offered to a group or class of employees, the individual is

given a period of at least 45 days within which to consider the

agreement.” Id. In the latter situation, the employer must 

inform[] the individual in writing in a manner

calculated to be understood by the average individual

eligible to participate, as to:

(i) any class, unit, or group of individuals covered by

such program, any eligibility factors for such
The Release that Ruehl signed was undisputedly governed 7

by § 626(f)(1)(H).

8

program, and any time limits applicable to such

program; and

(ii) the job titles and ages of all individuals eligible

or selected for the program, and the ages of all

individuals in the same job classification or

organizational unit who are not eligible or selected

for the program.

Id. at § 626(f)(1)(H).7

In signing the Release, Ruehl affirmed that he was

informed, in writing, by Viacom, about

(i) any class, unit or group of individuals covered by

the Involuntary Separation Program, any eligibility

factors for the Involuntary Separation Program, and

any time limits applicable; and (ii) the job titles and

ages of all individuals eligible or selected for the

Involuntary Separation Program, and the ages of all

individuals in the same job classification or

organizational unit who are not eligible or selected

for the program.

(App. at 147-48.) This language, drafted by Viacom, tracks the

language of the OWBPA. It is undisputed, however, that Viacom

failed to actually provide Ruehl with the required information.

Nonetheless, Viacom argues that the Release complies with

the OWBPA because Viacom would have made the information

available to Ruehl had he requested it. Ruehl responds that he did

not request the information, but signed the waiver saying he did,

because he was afraid that any request or modification of the

Release would delay his receipt of pension benefits. He argues that

the Release is invalid under the plain language of § 626(f)(1)(H)
9

because that provision places the burden on the employer to ensure

that waivers are knowing and voluntary. Ruehl is correct.

The OWBPA places the burden on employers seeking

releases to “inform[] the individual in writing” of the demographic

information listed in § 626(f)(1)(H). Viacom never provided Ruehl

the information, and the Release does not mention Ruehl’s right to

receive it, nor does it mention that the information was available

upon request or how one might obtain the information. Ruehl’s

waiver was therefore not knowing and voluntary under the

OWBPA. Having the employee say he was informed in

writing—when he was not—does not satisfy the OWBPA’s

requirements.

Our strict construction of the OWBPA’s disclosure

requirement follows the direction of the Supreme Court in Oubre

v. Energy Operations, Inc., 522 U.S. 422 (1998):

The policy of the OWBPA is . . . to protect the rights

and benefits of older workers. The OWBPA

implements Congress’ policy via a strict, unqualified

statutory stricture on waivers, and we are bound to

take Congress at its word. Congress imposed

specific duties on employers who seek releases of

certain claims created by statute. Congress

delineated these duties with precision and without

qualification . . . . Courts cannot with ease presume

ratification of that which Congress forbids.

. . .

The statute creates a series of prerequisites for

knowing and voluntary waivers and imposes

affirmative duties of disclosure and waiting periods.

The OWBPA governs the effect under federal law of

waivers or releases on ADEA claims and

incorporates no exceptions or qualifications.

Id. at 427 (emphasis added).

Consistent with Oubre, several Courts of Appeals have

required strict compliance with the OWBPA’s disclosure
 Viacom and amicus curiae, United States Chamber of 8

Commerce, point to the fact that the EEOC asked for public

comments on whether providing demographic information only

“upon request” satisfies § 626(f)(1)(H). They argue that the

EEOC’s action shows that the plain language of the statute does

not require appending the material to the release. They also point

to comments received by the EEOC from the Equal Employment

Advisory Council, which state that “a waiver will not be rendered

invalid if the information [in subparagraph H is] made available for

examination instead of being distributed in full . . . . [i]f the

employer simply informs all eligible employees that the additional

information is available for inspection in the personnel office or

other convenient location, those interested will be able to access

and examine it.” See Viacom Br. at 57 (citing July 22, 1992 letter

from Equal Employment Advisory Council to EEOC at 22, App. at

107) (emphasis added). Here, Viacom neither appended the

required information to the Release nor informed employees in

writing about how to get it.

10

requirements. See Kruchowski v. Weyerhaeuser Co., 446 F.3d

1090, 1095 (10th Cir. 2006) (holding waiver invalid because

employer defined “decisional unit” too broadly and “terminated

employees [must] be informed of the ‘decisional unit’ at the time

they consider whether to waive any ADEA claims.”); Adams v.

Ameritech Servs., Inc., 231 F.3d 414, 431 (7th Cir. 2000) (holding

that “salary grade” instead of “job titles” is too general to furnish

the kind of information the statute contemplates; and stating that

“[a]s a form of worker protection legislation, the OWBPA demands

information that allows people to ascertain whether they are being

treated fairly vis-a-vis their peers.”); Tung v. Texaco Inc., 150 F.3d

206, 209 (2d Cir. 1998) (holding release invalid where

demographic information was given to employee on the day he

signed the release, not 45 days before, in accordance the OWBPA).

Viacom argues that if we invalidate Ruehl’s waiver,

employers will be forced to attach voluminous amounts of

unwanted material to every release. This, Viacom contends, would

unduly burden both the employer and the employee. But we are 8

not suggesting that Viacom was required to include boxes of paper
Section 7(d) of the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 626(d), details this 9

“exhaustion requirement”:

No civil action may be commenced by an individual

under this section [authorizing civil actions] until 60

days after a charge alleging unlawful discrimination

has been filed with the Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission. Such a charge shall be

filed-

(1) within 180 days after the alleged unlawful

practice occurred; or

(2) in a case to which section 633(b) of this title

applies, within 300 days after the alleged unlawful

practice occurred, or within 30 days after receipt by

the individual of notice of termination of proceedings

under State law, whichever is earlier.

Upon receiving such a charge, the Commission

shall promptly notify all persons named in such

charge as prospective defendants in the action and

shall promptly seek to eliminate any alleged

unlawful practice by informal methods of

11

with each and every waiver. We hold only that Ruehl’s waiver was

invalid because Viacom neither attached the required information

to the Release nor adequately informed him of the relevant

information, or how to get it, in any writing at all.

III. Timeliness of EEOC Charge

Ruehl did not file an EEOC charge until October 14, 2003.

That was 2135 days from the first adverse employment

action—over five years late. Generally, a judicial complaint under

the ADEA will be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative

remedies if a supporting EEOC charge was not filed within 180 or

300 days (depending on state law) of notification to the employee

of the adverse employment action. “Like Title VII, ADEA has 9
conciliation, conference, and persuasion.

Id. (footnote added).

Section 633(b), explains what makes a state a “deferral 10

state”:

In the case of an alleged unlawful practice occurring

in a State which has a law prohibiting discrimination

in employment because of age and establishing or

authorizing a State authority to grant or seek relief

from such discriminatory practice, no suit may be

brought under section 626 of this title before the

expiration of sixty days after proceedings have been

commenced under the State law, unless such

proceedings have been earlier terminated: Provided,

That such sixty-day period shall be extended to one

hundred and twenty days during the first year after

the effective date of such State law. If any

requirement for the commencement of such

proceedings is imposed by a State authority other

than a requirement of the filing of a written and

signed statement of the facts upon which the

proceeding is based, the proceeding shall be deemed

to have been commenced for the purposes of this

subsection at the time such statement is sent by

registered mail to the appropriate State authority.

Id.

12

deferral provisions and the time for filing a charge depends on

whether deferral applies. In deferral states, such as Pennsylvania,

the charge must be filed within 300 days of the allegedly illegal

act.” Seredinski v. Clifton Precision Prods. Co., 776 F.2d 56, 63 10

(3d Cir. 1985). Thus, Ruehl had 300 days from December 10,

1997, the day he was notified his job would be eliminated, to file

an EEOC charge. See Watson v. Eastman Kodak Co., 235 F.3d

851, 852-53 (3d Cir. 2000) (“[A]n adverse employment action

occurs, and the statute of limitations therefore begins to run, at the

time the employee receives notice of that action and termination is
In addition to the exhaustion requirement, the ADEA has 11

a filing requirement, under which a judicial complaint must be filed

within 90 days of either (1) receipt of a notice that a charge filed

with the EEOC has been dismissed or (2) notice EEOC

proceedings are being terminated by the EEOC. See Sperling v.

Hoffman-La Roche, Inc., 24 F.3d 463, 464 n.1 (3d Cir. 1994)

(citing 29 U.S.C. § 626(e)). In cases where a plaintiff has joined

a class or collective action complaint, and certification was denied,

or a conditionally certified class was decertified, courts have held

that an individual judicial complaint must be filed within ninety

(90) days of the denial of certification or decertification. See, e.g.,

Armstrong v. Martin Marietta Corp., 138 F.3d 1374, 1391-92 (11th

Cir. 1998); Basch v. Ground Round, Inc., 139 F.3d 6, 11 (1st Cir.

1998). We need not consider whether Ruehl’s judicial complaint

was timely because, for the reasons we explain below, Ruehl has

failed to meet the administrative exhaustion requirement.

13

a delayed but inevitable result.”).

Absent an applicable saving doctrine, Ruehl’s EEOC charge

was untimely, and his case must be dismissed. The District Court 11

held, however, that Ruehl’s claim was saved by the doctrine of

equitable tolling or, in the alternative, the single filing rule. For the

reasons that follow, we conclude that neither doctrine applies.

A. Equitable Tolling

The District Court denied summary judgment because it

found there were material issues of fact about whether equitable

tolling should be applied to Ruehl’s charge-filing deadline. On

appeal, Ruehl argues that equitable tolling is appropriate for two

reasons: (1) Viacom actively misled him by “obtaining an invalid

waiver of claims,” that “lulled” him “into believing he had given

up his ability to pursue a claim of age discrimination;” and (2)

Viacom actively misled him by failing to make required disclosures

under the OWBPA. See Ruehl Br. at 25-26. We conclude that

Ruehl has not demonstrated extraordinary circumstances that

would justify equitable tolling.
14

The ADEA’s timely exhaustion requirement is a

non-jurisdictional prerequisite that, like a statute of limitations, is

subject to equitable tolling. Commc’ns Workers of Am. v. N. J.

Dept. of Pers., 282 F.3d 213, 216-17 (3d Cir. 2002) (hereinafter

“Communications Workers”). Equitable tolling stopsthe statute of

limitations from running when an EEOC charge’s accrual date has

already passed. Oshiver v. Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman, 38

F.3d 1380, 1387 (3d Cir. 1994).

In Oshiver, we explained two requirements for equitable

tolling in an employment discrimination case:

the equitable tolling doctrine may excuse the

plaintiff’s non-compliance with the statutory

limitations provision at issue when it appears that (1)

the defendant actively misled the plaintiff respecting

the reason for the plaintiff’s discharge, and (2) this

deception caused the plaintiff’s non-compliance with

the limitations provision.

Id. (emphasis added). In addition, “equitable tolling requires the

plaintiff to demonstrate that he or she could not, by the exercise of

reasonable diligence, have discovered essential information bearing

on his or her claim.” In re Mushroom Transp. Co., 382 F.3d 325,

339 (3d Cir. 2004) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Hart

v. J.T. Baker Chem. Co., 598 F.2d 829, 834 (3d Cir. 1979)

(denying equitable tolling although employee was given four

reasons for her discharge, none related to her gender, “her

suspicions [of gender discrimination] were sufficient to lead a

reasonable person to inquire further into the reasons for her

discharge”).

Ruehl argues, first, that he was “actively misled” by the

invalid Release into believing he had waived all claims under the

ADEA. The problem with this argument is that Ruehl alleges a

misrepresentation of law, not of fact. Although Ruehl may have

been misled by the presentation of an invalid release, this did not

cause his late filing because he, like everyone, has access to the

law. See Utah Power & Light Co. v. Fed. Ins. Co., 983 F.2d 1549,

1556 (10th Cir. 1993) (“[N]o one can be deceived by a
We express no opinion about whether Ruehl has 12

established a factual basis for his claim that Viacom actively misled

him, but we reject Viacom’s legal argument that Ruehl cannot

show “actively misleading” conduct under Oshiver based on a

failure to disclose under the OWBPA. See Meyer v. Riegel Prods.

Co., 720 F.2d 303, 308-09 (3d Cir. 1983) (tolling the statute of

limitations on EEOC charge where employer told employee he was

being fired because of corporate reorganization, but omitted the

fact that a younger employee had been hired to take over his job);

Bonham v. Dresser Indus., Inc., 569 F.2d 187, 193 (3d Cir. 1977)

(“[C]ases may arise where the employer’s own acts or omissions

have lulled the plaintiff into foregoing prompt attempts to vindicate

his rights.”) (quoted in Meyer, 720 F.2d at 307 and Oshiver, 38

F.3d at 1387) (emphasis added). Viacom further insists that the

only legal consequence for failing to follow the dictates of

15

misrepresentation of law because everyone has access to the law .

. . .”). Had he been diligent, Ruehl would have discovered that the

Release was invalid in time to file a charge. See Mushroom, 382

F.3d at 339 (requiring, for equitable tolling, that plaintiff show

reasonable diligence would not have revealed essential information

bearing on his or her claim). Indeed, Ruehl had reason to suspect

the Release was invalid because it stated—and he affirmed—that

he had seen demographic information, even though none had been

provided.

Ruehl argues, second, that there are material issues of fact

about whether Viacom actively misled him by failing to disclose

OWBPA information. He maintains that this information would

have revealed age discrimination and undermined Viacom’s

non-discriminatory explanation for his termination. But even

assuming we agree with Ruehl that, depending on what the

disclosures reveal, a jury could infer that Viacom actively misled

him as “part of an intentional plan to hide vital information from its

employees,” Ruehl’s diligence is also in issue. (See App. at 17.)

Ruehl cannot benefit from equitable tolling unless he shows

both that Viacom actively misled him about the reason for his

discharge, and that this deception caused his late filing. See 12
OWBPA is that Ruehl’s waiver is invalid, and that it can have no

bearing on equitable tolling. This argument misses the point: our

task is to determine whether there is a material issue of fact

regarding whether Viacom actively misled Ruehl about his cause

of action, and material omissions are relevant to that inquiry. See

Mushroom, 382 F.3d at 339 (“In assessing the finding that [the

plaintiff] failed as a matter of law to exercise reasonable diligence

for purposes of . . . equitable tolling, we are guided by the general

rule that such determinations are typically within the jury’s

province unless the facts are so clear that reasonable minds cannot

differ . . . .”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

16

Oshiver, 38 F.3d at 1387. The record in this case does not a permit

a finding that Ruehl met the second requirement.

Specifically, Ruehl admitted at his deposition that he first

thought he had been subjected to age discrimination in the summer

of 1998:

I guess when I was probably the oldest person in the

department that was let go, and I was the only one

not offered a job with the outsourcer. . . . [around]

Summer of ‘98 I guess, you know, around the time

of my termination . . . .

(App. at 295.) Ruehl also admitted that in 1994 he thought there

may have been age discrimination at Viacom when, in his presence,

Viacom’s Chief Financial Officer referred to an older employee as

a “blocker,” and said that Viacom needed to “get him out of here.”

(App. at 292.) Ruehl perceived this at the time to be the type of

“comments [that] were probably made about me the same way

when I wasn’t in the room.” (Id.) 

These facts, which would have supported Ruehl’s cause of

action, were known to him by the time he was terminated in August

1998. He has failed to explain how Viacom’s failure to disclose

under the OWBPA, however misleading, caused his failure to

pursue a claim based on information he already had. Ruehl has

therefore failed to show the type of exceptional circumstances that
 We express no opinion on whether Mueller’s charge was 13

timely filed.

17

warrant equitable tolling.

B. “Single Filing Rule”

The District Court held, alternatively, that the single filing

rule permits Ruehl, as a former plaintiff in the decertified MuellerBellas class, to “piggyback” on Mueller’s EEOC charge, thereby

dispensing with the requirement that he file a timely charge of his

own. The single filing (or “piggybacking”) rule is a judge-made 13

exception to the requirement that plaintiffs exhaust their

administrative remedies prior to filing suit. Communications

Workers, 282 F.3d at 217 (“Under the single filing rule doctrine, a

plaintiff who has not filed an EEOC charge within the requisite

time period can join a class action without satisfying either

requirement—exhaustion and filing—if the original EEOC charge

filed by the plaintiff who subsequently filed a class action had

alleged class based discrimination in the EEOC charge.”); Whalen

v. W.R. Grace & Co., 56 F.3d 504, 506 (3d Cir. 1995) (“[The

single filing rule] allows aggrieved individuals who failed to file

the required . . . EEOC charge to join a class action brought by a

plaintiff who had filed an EEOC charge alleging class-wide

discrimination.”).

1. Limitation of The Single Filing Rule to Class and

Collective Actions 

Beginning with Lusardi v. Lechner, 855 F.2d 1062 (3d Cir.

1988), we have limited application of the single filing rule to the

collective and class action context. In Lusardi, the district court

decertified a collective action filed by Xerox workers under the

ADEA because the plaintiffs did not satisfy the ADEA’s “similarly

situated” requirement. 855 F.2d at 1066; see also 29 U.S.C. §

216(b) (“An action . . . may be maintained . . . by any one or more

employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves and other

employees similarly situated.”). The court relied in part on the fact

that not every class member had filed an individual EEOC charge.
 We outlined the purpose of filing discrimination claims 14

first with the EEOC in Anjelino v. New York Times Co., 200 F.3d

73 (3d Cir. 1999): 

The preliminary step of the filing of the EEOC

charge and the receipt of the right to sue notification

are essential parts of the statutory plan, designed to

correct discrimination through administrative

conciliation and persuasion if possible, rather than

by formal court action. Because the aim of the

statutory scheme is to resolve disputes by informal

conciliation, prior to litigation, suits in the district

court are limited to matters of which the EEOC has

had notice and a chance, if appropriate, to settle. 

Id. at 93 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

We recognized in Starceski v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp.,

15

54 F.3d 1089, 1099 n.10 (3d Cir. 1995) that Lockhart was

effectively overruled on unrelated grounds by Hazen Paper Co. v.

Biggins, 507 U.S. 604 (1993), which rejected any requirement in

ADEA actions, of “direct” evidence of discrimination,

“outrageous” conduct by the employer, or proof that age was the

predominant rather than a determinative factor in the employment

decision.

18

See id. at 1076. On appeal, we remanded the case to the district

court for reconsideration, because we agreed with amicus EEOC’s

position that a single, representative complaint can achieve the

notice and conciliation purpose of the EEOC filing, “[s]o long as

class issues are alleged.” Id. at 1078; accord Lockhart v. 14

Westinghouse Credit Corp., 879 F.2d 43, 52 (3d Cir. 1989).15

On remand, the district court again decertified the class,

implementing our holding, but still finding that the plaintiffs were

not “similarly situated,” because

[t]he members of the proposed class come from

different departments, groups, organizations,

sub-organizations, units and local offices within the
19

Xerox organization. The opt-in plaintiffs performed

different jobs at different geographic locations and

were subject to different job actions concerning

reductions in work force which occurred at various

times as a result of various decisions by different

s uperv is o rs m a d e on a dec entr a li zed

employee-by-employee basis.

Lusardi v. Xerox Corp., 122 F.R.D. 463, 465 (D.N.J. 1988).

Then, in Tolliver v. Xerox Corp., 918 F.2d 1052, 1055 (2d

Cir. 1990), the Second Circuit considered an individual action

brought by a former Lusardi class member who had not filed his

own timely EEOC charge. Tolliver extended the single filing rule

beyond the class action context, to any individual action where “it

can fairly be said that no conciliatory purpose would be served by

filing separate EEOC charges.” Id. at 1058 (citation omitted). The

court reasoned that the single filing rule can apply even where a

class action would be inappropriate because the purpose of the

administrative filing requirement, timely conciliation, is separate

from the purposes of class certification. Id. at 1059. Importantly,

the plaintiff’s status as a former member of a decertified class was

irrelevant to the holding.

We rejected the Second Circuit’s approach in Whalen. 56

F.3d at 507. Whalen addressed whether plaintiffs who had not

filed individual EEOC charges could join a previously-filed ADEA

action, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(b). Id. at

505-06. The five plaintiffs in the original action had filed a joint

complaint, but not a collective action. Id. at 505. The prospective

plaintiffs argued that the single filing rule applied, and the district

court, relying on Tolliver, permitted the joinder. Id. at 506. We

reversed, explaining that under Lusardi, “[t]here is no suggestion

that filing a charge with allegations broad enough to support a

subsequent class action lawsuit alleviates the burden of filing the

class action itself, with the attendant requirement of class

certification.” Id. at 507.

We further emphasized the connection between the

certification process and proper application of the single filing rule
Courts in the Western District of Pennsylvania have 16

generally applied it post-decertification, whereas courts in the

Eastern District of Pennsylvania have generally not. Compare Ray

v. Consol. Rail Corp., No. 98-1757, at 7 (W.D. Pa. June 29, 1999);

McKernan v. Consol. Rail Corp., No. 98-1758, at 6 (W.D. Pa. June

29, 1999); Hilton v. Consol. Rail Corp., No. 98-364, at 6 (W.D. Pa.

June 23, 1999); Mayo v. Consol. Rail Corp., 96-656, at 9-10 (W.D.

Pa. June 23, 1999); In re Consol. Rail Corp. A.D.A. Litig., Nos.

98-1669, 98-1671, 98-1672, and 98-1759, at 9-10 (W.D. Pa. Mar.

20

in Communications Workers, 282 F.3d at 218. In that case, a union

filed an EEOC charge alleging racial discrimination by the State of

New Jersey. Id. at 215. The union then filed a timely complaint,

asserting associational standing, and alleging discrimination against

all of the union’s black and Hispanic members, without naming any

individuals. Id. About a year later, a separate chapter of the same

union successfully intervened in the original action, but the district

court dismissed its complaint as time barred. Id. at 215-16. On

appeal, the chapter argued that it could piggyback on the union’s

timely complaint because the union had filed on behalf of all its

members, and that was functionally the same as a class action. Id.

at 217. We disagreed, reasoning that “acceptance of [that]

argument would eviscerate the distinction between an action filed

by an entity based on associational standing . . . and class actions,”

with “the attendant requirements of class certifications and the

associated procedural due notice and fairness safeguards as

provided by Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 23.” Id. at 218 (emphasis added).

The focus of our early cases, Lusardi and Lockhart, was that

in the limited context of a class or collective action, a single EEOC

charge alleging class-wide discrimination satisfies the exhaustion

requirement for all class plaintiffs because it achieves the EEOC

goals of notice and conciliation. Our later cases, Whalen and

Communications Workers, emphasized that the single filing rule is

limited to plaintiffs who have undergone the class certification

process, because that process ensures notice and possible

conciliation of each class member’s claims. We have not squarely

addressed whether the single filing rule applies in individual

actions after decertification.16
23, 1999); with Foreman v. Consol. Rail Corp., No. 99-2804, 2000

WL 233471, at *1-2 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 25, 2000); Payne v. Consol.

Rail Corp., No. 99-2801, 2000 WL 190229, at *4 (E.D. Pa. Feb.

10, 2000); Wills v. Consol. Rail Corp., No. 99-2811, 2000 WL

365954, *2 -3 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 10, 2000); Koban v. Consol. Rail

Corp., No. 98-5872, 1999 WL 672657, at *2 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 13,

1999).

21

Ruehl argues that because the Mueller-Bellas action had

been conditionally certified, Ruehl’s subsequent individual action

remains in the “context of a class action” and the single filing rule

should therefore be available to him even after decertification. In

our view, this proposed extension of the single filing rule does not

follow from our precedent, and would make little sense under the

facts of this case. We conclude that when a class is decertified

because the plaintiffs are not “similarly situated,” those plaintiffs

are in a qualitatively different position than plaintiffs in a certified

class, and our reasons for applying the single filing rule—in

Lusardi, Lockhart, Whalen, and Communications Workers—are

inapplicable.

2. Application of the Single Filing Rule after

Decertification

The district court explained in its well-reasoned and

exhaustive opinion decertifying the Mueller-Bellas class, that its

conditional certification under the ADEA had been granted because

there was sufficient evidence of age-based discrimination to

proceed with notice and initial discovery. Mueller v. CBS, Inc.,

No. 99-1310, at 6 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 9, 2002) (App. at 194); see also

Sperling v. Hoffman La-Roche, Inc., 118 F.R.D. 392, 407 (D.N.J.

1988) (explaining that at the initial notice stage, plaintiffs need

only make “substantial allegations” that they were collectively “the

victims of a single decision, policy, or plan infected by

discrimination.”). The court remarked that at the “notice stage” the

standard for conditional certification is “comparatively liberal.”

(App. at 194.) 

On reconsideration, however, the district court decertified
At the “reconsideration phase,” after potential class 17

members have filed their consents to opt in and after there has been

further discovery to support the plaintiffs’ allegations, a district

court may revoke conditional certification if the proposed class

does not meet FLSA’s “similarly situated” requirement. Neither

FLSA nor the ADEA define the term “similarly situated,” but we

have approved of the balancing of factors in Plummer, 93 F.R.D.

311, and Lusardi, 118 F.R.D. 351. See Lockhart, 879 F.2d at 51

(approving and applying these factors). A representative (but not

exhaustive or mandatory) list of relevant factors includes whether

the plaintiffs are employed in the same corporate department,

division and location; advanced similar claims of age

discrimination; sought substantially the same form of relief; and

had similar salaries and circumstances of employment. See id. at

51(citing Plummer, 93 F.R.D. at 312); Lusardi, 118 F.R.D. at 358-

59. Plaintiffs may also be found dissimilar on the basis of case

management issues, including individualized defenses. See

Lusardi, 855 F.2d at 1074-75 (“Whether a class action is

inappropriate . . . because of the disparate individual defenses . . .

[is] entrusted to the district court’s sound discretion.”). Under the

ADEA, employers may defend age discrimination claims on the

ground that the disparate treatment was based on “reasonable

factors other than age,” 29 U.S.C. § 623(f)(1), such as termination

for good cause, lack of a bona fide occupational qualification,

business necessity, seniority, the implications of a bona fide benefit

plan, and waiver, Mueller, No. 99-1310, at 9 (App. at 197.).

22

the Mueller-Bellas class, applying the factors set out in Plummer

v. General Electric Co., 93 F.R.D. 311 (E.D. Pa. 1981), and

Lusardi, 118 F.R.D. 351 (D.N.J. 1987). Based on these factors, 17

the court concluded that the class members were not “similarly

situated”:

Plaintiffs are suggesting . . . that we continue to

“slice and dice” a group of nearly 1,500 terminated

employees until we find two or three who are not

hopelessly disparate in time, location, management,

who have no internal conflicts regarding

supervision, and who are subject to only one or two
23

generalized defenses . . . . I decline to accept

Plaintiffs’ suggestion that I resolve their factual

disparity problems for them . . . . 

Mueller, No. 99-1310, at 59 (emphasis added) (App. at 247.)

These reasons for decertification strongly counsel against

application of the single filing rule in Ruehl’s individual action.

First, and most importantly, plaintiffs whose individual

claims were “hopelessly disparate in time, location, management,”

with “internal conflicts regarding supervision,” “subject to only one

or two generalized defenses,” are not different than the individual

plaintiffs in Tolliver or Whalen by virtue of the fact that they were

once members of a conditionally certified class. See Whalen, 56

F.3d at 507. Conditional certification of the Mueller-Bellas action,

as we have explained, only meant that there were allegations of

class-wide discrimination. When, at the reconsideration phase, the

facts of the case came to light, the court determined that the class

members were not similar enough to proceed with their class-wide

claims. 

Second, we believe dissimilarity frustrates the EEOC’s

goals of notice and conciliation—we stand by our disagreement

with Tolliver in this regard. Notice is intended to inform an

employer that “a complaint has been lodged against him and gives

him the opportunity to take remedial action.” Bihler v. Singer Co.,

710 F.2d 96, 99 (3d Cir. 1983) (internal quotation marks omitted).

In this case, the only aspect of the Mueller and Bellas charges

applicable to Ruehl was the class-wide allegation that Viacom

perpetrated a “pattern and scheme of systematic discrimination

against older workers.” (App. at 151- 54.) Even assuming a

pattern and scheme, we cannot fairly presume that Viacom was

notified of anything but the class-wide claims, which the district

court determined were overwhelmed by the plaintiffs’ individual

differences. By the time Ruehl filed his consent to opt in to the

Mueller-Bellas action—and had notified anyone of his individual

claim—it was too late for Viacom to take remedial action. 

Nor does Ruehl provide any reason to assume that

conciliation of Ruehl’s individual claims would have been futile.
 See also Armstrong v. Martin Marietta Corp., 138 F.3d 18

1374, 1392 (11th Cir. 1998) (tolling the EEOC charge-filing period

during the pendency of plaintiffs’ participation in ADEA collective

actions); McDonald v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 834 F.2d

1085, 1092 (1st Cir. 1987) (holding that the principles of Am. Pipe

& Constr. Co. v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974), permitting tolling of

the time to file a complaint during the pendency of a class action,

are “generally applicable” to administrative limitations periods, so

that after a class action was decertified on appeal, the class

members could “go forward from the point where they had left off

during pendency of the class action” and exhaust their

administrative remedies); Sharpe v. Am. Express Co., 689 F. Supp.

294, 300 (S.D.N.Y. 1988) (“Applying the tolling rule to the filing

of administrative claims will have the same salutary effect as exists

for the filing of lawsuits. In both cases, tolling the statute of

limitations during the pendency of a class action will avoid

encouraging all putative class members to file separate claims with

24

The EEOC’s role under the ADEA is “to eliminate the

discriminatory practice or practices alleged, and to effect voluntary

compliance . . . through informal methods of conciliation,

conference, and persuasion.” See 29 U.S.C. § 626(b). Fruitless

negotiation of class-wide claims tells us nothing about the

prospects for conciliation of individual claims that involve

potentially different conduct and different defenses. 

Third, and finally, we are unmoved by Ruehl’s prediction

that failure to apply the single filing rule after decertification will

deter plaintiffs from joining a class, for fear that their time to file

a charge will run out while certification is pending. A

straightforward extension of our holding in Sperling v.

Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., 24 F.3d 463 (3d Cir. 1994), alleviates

this problem by permitting tolling of the charge filing period, after

an ADEA plaintiff has opted into a collective action, until

decertification. See id. at 468 (“Our holding that ADEA’s statute

of limitations is tolled for eligible class members by the initial

filing of a representative complaint, as long as the representative

nature of the action is clear on the complaint’s face, is

foreshadowed by our opinion in Lusardi, 855 F.2d 1062”). Here, 18
the EEOC . . . .”).

Our holding is limited to a decertified collective action. 19

We express no opinion about application of the rule in the context

of a decertified, Rule 23 class action.

25

however, even if we tolled Ruehl’s charge filing period during the

pendency of the Mueller-Bellas action, his charge would still be

untimely.

For these reasons, we hold that the single filing rule is not

available to former members of a collective action that is

decertified because the plaintiffs are not “similarly situated.” It 19

is therefore not applicable in Ruehl’s case.

III. Conclusion

Ruehl’s EEOC charge was filed over five years too late.

Because he was aware of a factual basis for his claim in time to file

a charge, and Viacom’s allegedly misleading behavior in procuring

an invalid waiver did not cause his late filing, Ruehl is ineligible

for equitable tolling. In addition, because the Mueller-Bellas

action was decertified on grounds of dissimilarity, he cannot

piggyback on anyone else’s timely filed charge. Without equitable

tolling or piggybacking, Ruehl fails to satisfy the ADEA’s timely

exhaustion requirement. We will therefore reverse the District

Court’s order and remand for entry of summary judgment in favor

of Viacom.