Source: https://openjurist.org/580/f2d/298/evans-v-oscar-mayer-and-co-m-n-d-l
Timestamp: 2018-09-26 12:53:31
Document Index: 516815958

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 621', '§ 1292', '§ 626', '§ 633', '§ 2000', '§ 2000', '§ 2000', '§ 601']

580 F2d 298 Evans v. Oscar Mayer & Co | OpenJurist
580 F. 2d 298 - Evans v. Oscar Mayer & Co
580 F2d 298 Evans v. Oscar Mayer & Co
580 F.2d 298
17 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1119, 16 Empl. Prac.
Dec. P 8214,
17 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8422
Joseph W. EVANS, Appellee,
OSCAR MAYER & CO., Robert M. Bolz, N. D. Ottens, Donald L.
Paul, and Paul F.Gould, Appellants.
Rehearing En Banc Denied July 7, 1978.
James W. Gladden, Jr., of Mayer, Brown & Platt, Chicago, Ill., for appellant; Arthur J. Kowitt and William J. Reifman, Chicago, Ill., on brief.
Mark W. Bennett, of Allen, Babich & Bennett, Des Moines, Iowa, for appellee; Gordon E. Allen and Joseph Z. Marks, Des Moines, Iowa, on brief.
Joseph W. Evans brought this suit against his employer, Oscar Mayer & Co., and its executives,1 charging that they had forced him into early retirement in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634 (1970). Oscar Mayer moved to dismiss the action for want of jurisdiction. The district court denied the motion and certified this interlocutory ruling for appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) (1970), stating that the order presented a "controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion" and "that an immediate appeal . . . may materially advance the ultimate outcome of the litigation." This court thereafter permitted this appeal.
Joseph Evans worked for Oscar Mayer & Co. in Davenport, Iowa for twenty-three years before his retirement on January 31, 1976. On March 10, 1976 Evans notified the Secretary of Labor, as required by 29 U.S.C. § 626(d),2 that he intended to sue Oscar Mayer under the ADEA. He filed the present action in federal district court on May 7, 1977. Thereafter Oscar Mayer moved to dismiss the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that Evans had not fulfilled a jurisdictional requirement under 29 U.S.C. § 633(b) because he did not first file charges with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. The district court concluded that filing charges with an appropriate state agency is not a jurisdictional prerequisite to an action in federal court. It therefore denied the motion, and Oscar Mayer appealed.
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. (Emphasis added.)
Iowa has a law prohibiting age discrimination in employment,3 and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has the authority to seek relief from such practices. The narrow issue raised on appeal is whether filing a claim with the state agency is a prerequisite to a suit under the ADEA.
A definitive answer cannot be found in either the language of the statute, its legislative history, or the policy behind it. The extensive discussions found in Vazquez v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 405 F.Supp. 1353 (D.P.R.1975) (filing with state agency not required), and Bertsch v. Ford Motor Co., 415 F.Supp. 619 (E.D.Mich.1976) (filing with state agency is required), demonstrate that substantial support can be found for either conclusion. Several courts have determined that deference to an appropriate state agency is required by the ADEA, See Reich v. Dow Badische Co., 575 F.2d 363 (2d Cir. 1978), including the dissenting opinion of Judge Feinberg; Curry v. Continental Airlines, 513 F.2d 691 (9th Cir. 1975); Goger v. H. K. Porter Co., 492 F.2d 13 (3d Cir. 1974); Gabriele v. Chrysler Corp., 416 F.Supp. 666 (E.D.Mich.1976), Rev'd, 573 F.2d 949 (6th Cir. 1978), Supra; Fitzgerald v. New England Telephone & Telegraph Co., 416 F.Supp. 617 (D.Mass.1976), Modified, 437 F.Supp. 635 (Mass.1977); Berry v. Crocker Nat'l Bank, 13 FEP Cases 673 (N.D.Cal.1976), while other courts have held it to be optional, See Bertrand v. Orkin Exterminating Co., 419 F.Supp. 1123 (N.D.Ill.1976); Smith v. Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co., 419 F.Supp. 770 (D.N.J.1976); Magalotti v. Ford Motor Co., 418 F.Supp. 430 (E.D.Mich.1976); Skoglund v. Singer Co., 403 F.Supp. 797 (D.N.H.1975).
Congress clearly intended that discrimination on the basis of age be remedied as quickly and efficiently as possible, for lengthy delays in the courts and administrative agencies could deprive older workers of an effective remedy. Section 626(d) of the ADEA expressly requires the claimant to notify the Secretary of Labor before filing suit and requires the Secretary to "seek to eliminate any alleged unlawful practice by informal methods of conciliation, conference, and persuasion." Although Congress patterned much of the ADEA after Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2000e-17 (1970), and other labor statutes, it rejected a proposed enforcement procedure that would have subjected ADEA complaints to the same delays that plague the EEOC and NLRB. Vazquez v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., supra, 405 F.Supp. at 1354-55. Instead, the claimant need defer to the Secretary of Labor and the state agency for only sixty days before bringing suit. Thus, in those cases in which the Secretary of Labor or the state agency is able to provide speedy relief, the claimant can escape the delay inherent in any federal court action. On the other hand, if prompt relief cannot be obtained, the claimant may bring an action after waiting only sixty days. Requiring a claimant to seek relief through a state agency designed specifically to handle this type of case is consistent with congressional intent. It increases the chances of conciliation while creating no additional delay, for the sixty-day period of deference to the state agency may run concurrently with the sixty-day period of deference to the Secretary of Labor. Bertsch v. Ford Motor Co., supra, 415 F.Supp. at 623.
In the case of an alleged unlawful employment practice occurring in a State * * * which has a * * * law prohibiting the unlawful employment practice alleged and establishing or authorizing a State * * * authority to grant or seek relief from such practice * * * , no charge may be filed * * * by the person aggrieved before the expiration of sixty days after proceedings have been commenced under the State * * * law, unless such proceedings have been earlier terminated * * *. (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b) (1970) (currently at § 2000e-5(c)).)
Iowa Code Ann. § 601A.6 (1975)