UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

ANITA MASON ROWLAND,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

AMERICAN GENERAL FINANCE,

INCORPORATED,

No. 98-2340

Defendant-Appellee,

and

GEORGE ROACH, Regional Manager,

in his individual capacity,

Defendant.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Virginia, at Lynchburg.

James C. Turk, District Judge.

(CA-97-16-L)

Submitted: February 23, 1999

Decided: March 18, 1999

Before WILKINS and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and

BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

_________________________________________________________________

Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

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COUNSEL

Terry N. Grimes, KING, FULGHUM, SNEAD, NIXON & GRIMES,

P.C., Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellant. Robert C. Wood, III, Kristine
H. Smith, EDMUNDS & WILLIAMS, P.C., Lynchburg, Virginia, for

Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Anita Mason Rowland filed an action alleging, among other things,

that American General Finance, Inc. (American General) discriminated against her because of her gender in violation of Title VII of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964. Without the benefit of a recent ruling from

this court, the district court found that Rowland failed to file a timely

charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC) and granted summary judgment in favor of

American General. Rowland filed this appeal. We vacate the district

court's judgment and remand for further consideration.

The district court concluded that the latest possible date of the discriminatory acts forming the basis of Rowland's discrimination action

was March 6, 1996. Finding that Rowland was required to file her

EEOC charge within 180 days of March 6, 1996, the district court

held that Rowland's charge, which it found was filed September 11,

1996, was filed outside the 180-day period and was untimely.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that discrimination charges be filed with the EEOC within 180 days of the alleged

unlawful employment practice. See 42 U.S.C.§ 2000e-5(e)(1) (1994).

The filing period is extended to 300 days, however, when state law

proscribes the alleged employment practice and the charge is initially

filed with a state deferral agency. In Tinsley v. First Union Nat'l

Bank, 155 F.3d 435, 440 (4th Cir. 1998), we held that the Virginia

Counsel on Human Rights (VCHR) is a deferral agency. The record

shows that the EEOC transmitted Rowland's charge of discrimination

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to the VCHR on September 17, 1996. No party argues that Virginia

state law does not proscribe discrimination based on sex. See Va.

Code Ann. § 2.1-716, 720(14) (Michie 1995 & Supp. 1998). Accordingly, Rowland had 300 days to file her charge of discrimination.

Because Rowland satisfied this requirement, we vacate the district

court's judgment and remand this case to the district court for further

consideration. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and

legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the

court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

VACATED AND REMANDED

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