IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN 

SOUTHERN DIVISION

Equal Employment Opportunity )

Commission )

Plaintiff, ) Case No. 14-13710

)

v. ) HON. SEAN F. COX

) United States District Court Judge

R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., )

)

Defendant. )

____________________________________)

ANSWER OF DEFENDANT R.G. & G.R. HARRIS FUNERAL HOMES, INC. TO 

PLAINTIFF’S AMENDED COMPLAINT

Defendant, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. (“Funeral Home”), by 

and through its undersigned counsel, and for its Answer to Plaintiff’s Amended 

Complaint, states as follows:

1. It does not appear that the information contained in the section of the 

Amended Complaint entitled “NATURE OF THE ACTION” requires any response; 

however, to the extent such section of the Amended Complaint asserts any allegations, 

Funeral Home denies each and every allegation asserted therein.

2. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 1 of Plaintiffs’ 

Amended Complaint.

3. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 2 of the Amended 

Complaint.

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4. Funeral Home admits that the EEOC is the agency of the United States of 

America charged with the administration of Title VII but, except as so admitting, Funeral 

Home denies the remaining averments set forth in paragraph 3 of the Amended Complaint.

5. Funeral Home admits the averments set forth in paragraph 4 of Plaintiff’s 

Amended Complaint. 

6. Funeral Home admits the averments set forth in paragraph 5 of Plaintiff’s 

Amended Complaint. 

7. The averments contained in paragraph 6 of the Amended Complaint state 

legal conclusions to which no answer is required and the Funeral Home is otherwise 

without information sufficient to form a belief about the truth of the allegations set forth 

therein, and therefore denies the same.

8. Funeral Home is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a 

belief as to the truth of the averments set forth in paragraph 7 of the Amended Complaint

and therefore denies the same.

9. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 8 of the Amended

Complaint.

10. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 9 of the Amended 

Complaint.

11. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 10 of the 

Amended Complaint.

12. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 11 of the 

Amended Complaint.

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13. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 12 of the 

Amended Complaint.

14. The averments contained in paragraph 13 of the Amended Complaint state 

legal conclusions to which no answer is required; however, to the extent paragraph 13 of 

the Amended Complaint contains any allegations, Funeral Home denies them.

15. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 14 of the 

Amended Complaint.

16. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 15 of the 

Amended Complaint.

17. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 16 of the 

Amended Complaint.

18. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 17 of the 

Amended Complaint.

19. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 18 of the 

Amended Complaint.

20. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 19 of the 

Amended Complaint.

21. Funeral Home denies the averments set forth in paragraph 20 of the 

Amended Complaint.

AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

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The EEOC’s Amended Complaint fails to state any claim upon which relief can 

be granted.

SECOND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s bringing and prosecution of this case exceeds the scope of the EEOC’s 

legal authority and is ultra vires. 

THIRD AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s claims are barred by the doctrine of at-will employment.

FOURTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s claims are barred by virtue of the fact that the Funeral Home was 

legally justified in any and all acts of which the EEOC complains, including but not limited 

to the Funeral Home’s right to impose sex-specific dress codes on its employees.

FIFTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s claims are barred by virtue of the fact that Stephens anticipatorily 

breached or anticipatorily repudiated, or breached or repudiated, Stephens’s employment 

contract with Funeral Home.

SIXTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s claims are barred by the doctrines of waiver, estoppel, unclean hands,

laches, and other equitable doctrines.

SEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

 Some or all of the claims the EEOC asserts against Defendant Funeral Home are 

barred by applicable statutes of limitations.

EIGHTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

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The EEOC’s claims are barred due to the fact that they are not brought in the true 

name of the party in interest and/or for the failure to join an indispensable party.

NINTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s claims are barred or diminished by Stephens’s failure to mitigate 

Stephens’s alleged damages.

TENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

Stephens’s damages, if any, are the direct and proximate result of Stephens’s own 

actions and/or the actions of others over whom the Funeral Home has no control.

ELEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s claims violate the Funeral Home’s right to due process under the 5th

and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution.

TWELFTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s claims violate the Funeral Home’s right to free exercise of religion 

under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

THIRTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

The EEOC’s claims violate the Funeral Home’s rights under the federal Religious 

Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

WHEREFORE, having fully answered, Funeral Home respectfully requests this Court to 

dismiss Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint with prejudice, to award Funeral Home its

attorney’s fees and costs herein, and to award Funeral Home any and all further and other 

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relief to which the Funeral Home is entitled by law or equity or as the Court determines is 

just.

JURY TRIAL DEMAND

Defendant requests a jury trial.

Respectfully submitted, 

KIRKPATRICK LAW OFFICES, P.C.

/s/ Joel J. Kirkpatrick

Joel J. Kirkpatrick (P62851)

843 PENNIMAN AVE, Suite 201

PLYMOUTH, MI 48170

(734) 404-5710 

(866) 241-4152 FAX

joel@JOELKIRKPATRICK.com

/s/Joseph P. Infranco

 Joseph P. Infranco, NY Bar No. 1268739

 Alliance Defending Freedom

 15100 N. 90th Street

 Scottsdale, AZ 85260

 (480) 444-0020

 (480) 444-0028 Fax

 jinfranco@alliancedefendingfreedom.org

 Attorneys for Defendant

Dated: May 29, 2015

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing was filed electronically on May 29, 2015 and 

was served electronically on all parties by operation of the Court’s electronic filing 

system. Parties may access the filing through the Court’s system.

/s/ Joel J. Kirkpatrick

Joel J. Kirkpatrick (P62851) 

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