Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/84/522/568592/
Timestamp: 2019-07-19 03:31:36
Document Index: 647195456

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2000', '§ 1981', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1985', '§ 1985', '§ 2000', '§ 626', '§ 1985', '§ 1983']

70 Fair Empl.prac.cas. (bna) 1377, 44 Fed. R.evid. Ser v. 354elizabeth Sherlock, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Montefiore Medical Center, Defendant-appellee, 84 F.3d 522 (2d Cir. 1996) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Second Circuit › 1996 › 70 Fair Empl.prac.cas. (bna) 1377, 44 Fed. R.evid. Ser v. 354elizabeth Sherlock, Plaintiff-appellant...
70 Fair Empl.prac.cas. (bna) 1377, 44 Fed. R.evid. Ser v. 354elizabeth Sherlock, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Montefiore Medical Center, Defendant-appellee, 84 F.3d 522 (2d Cir. 1996)
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - 84 F.3d 522 (2d Cir. 1996)
Argued April 12, 1996. Decided May 10, 1996
Montefiore is a not-for-profit medical institution engaged to provide medical services at New York City's Rikers Island Correctional Facility. In July 1989, Montefiore hired Sherlock, then age 45, to work as an HIV counselor at that facility. In October 1992, Montefiore terminated Sherlock's employment. Sherlock filed charges with the EEOC, alleging that Montefiore had discriminated against her on the basis of her age and gender. The EEOC dismissed those charges and issued a right-to-sue letter; the letter, dated February 15, 1995, stated that Sherlock could continue pursuit of her Title VII and ADEA claims by filing a private lawsuit but that " [s]uch a lawsuit must be commenced within 90 days of receipt of this" letter.
Sherlock filed this claim ninety-six days after receiving her right-to-sue letter, thus exceeding the ninety-day statute of limitations by six days. The EEOC mailed notice to Sherlock on February 15, 1995. A presumption exists that an EEOC notice is received three days after its mailing. Baldwin County Welcome Center, 466 U.S. at 148 n. 1 [104 S. Ct. at 1724 n. 1]. Accordingly, Sherlock is presumed to have received her right-to-sue letter on February 18, 1995. Because Sherlock commenced this action on May 25, 1995--ninety-six days later--her Title VII and ADEA causes of action must be dismissed as untimely.
In order to be timely, a claim under Title VII or the ADEA must be filed within 90 days of the claimant's receipt of a right-to-sue letter. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f) (1); see also Baldwin County Welcome Center v. Brown, 466 U.S. 147, 149-50, 104 S. Ct. 1723, 1724-25, 80 L. Ed. 2d 196 (1984) (per curiam); Cornwell v. Robinson, 23 F.3d 694, 706 (2d Cir. 1994). Normally it is assumed that a mailed document is received three days after its mailing. See, e.g., Baldwin County Welcome Center v. Brown, 466 U.S. at 148 n. 1, 104 S. Ct. at 1724 n. 1 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(e) ("Whenever a party has the right or is required to do some act or take some proceedings within a prescribed period after the service of a notice or other paper upon the party and the notice or paper is served upon the party by mail, 3 days shall be added to the prescribed period.")). And normally it may be assumed, in the absence of challenge, that a notice provided by a government agency has been mailed on the date shown on the notice. See Baldwin County Welcome Center v. Brown, 466 U.S. at 148 & n. 1, 104 S. Ct. at 1724 & n. 1.
Although such presumptions are convenient and reasonable in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Baldwin case, on which the district court in the present case relied, did not suggest that they are irrebuttable. While the Baldwin Court noted the presumed date of receipt, the issue in that case was not the date on which the right-to-sue letter had been received but rather whether the forwarding of that letter by the plaintiff to the district court constituted the commencement of the lawsuit. See, e.g., id. at 150 n. 4, 104 S. Ct. at 1725 n. 4. If a claimant presents sworn testimony or other admissible evidence from which it could reasonably be inferred either that the notice was mailed later than its typewritten date or that it took longer than three days to reach her by mail, the initial presumption is not dispositive. See, e.g., Smith v. Local Union 28 Sheet Metal Workers, 877 F. Supp. 165, 172 (S.D.N.Y. 1995) (determining date of receipt on basis of testimonial evidence), aff'd mem., --- F.3d ----, 1996 WL 53650 (2d Cir. Feb. 8, 1996).
The record in the present case provides clear ground to question the dates on which the EEOC notice, which bore the typed date February 15, 1995, was (a) mailed by EEOC and (b) received by Sherlock. There is no evidence from EEOC itself as to the date on which EEOC mailed the letter to Sherlock, but the letter was addressed both to Sherlock and to Montefiore, and the copy received by Montefiore is part of the record. That copy bears two stamped dates, to wit, February 27 on the upper right, and February 28 on the lower right. At oral argument of this appeal, Montefiore's counsel informed us that these stamps indicate the timing of Montefiore's own receipt of the letter. Thus, the record indicates that Montefiore itself did not receive the letter until at least February 27. A notation showing an unexpectedly late date of arrival, affixed by a party that has an interest in claiming its earlier arrival, is admissible against that party as an admission. Fed.R.Evid. 801(d) (2). The fact that Montefiore, as one of two addressees, received the letter at least 12 days after its typewritten date plainly raises a question of fact as to whether Sherlock, the other addressee, received it within three days of its typewritten date.
Sherlock's other federal claims were properly dismissed. Her complaint failed to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 because, as the district court noted, it did not allege that she was a member of a racial or ethnic minority. See, e.g., Saint Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, 481 U.S. 604, 613, 107 S. Ct. 2022, 2028, 95 L. Ed. 2d 582 (1987); Mian v. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., 7 F.3d 1085, 1087 (2d Cir. 1993) (per curiam).
Sherlock's claim under § 1983 was properly dismissed because, insofar as Montefiore's employment practices are concerned, the complaint fails to allege state action. The fact that a municipality is responsible for providing medical attention to persons held in its custody may make an independent contractor rendering such services a state actor within the meaning of § 1983 with respect to the services so provided, see, e.g., West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 54, 108 S. Ct. 2250, 2258, 101 L. Ed. 2d 40 (1988); but that fact does not make the contractor a state actor with respect to its employment decisions, see, e.g., Rendell-Baker v. Kohn, 457 U.S. 830, 840-43, 102 S. Ct. 2764, 2770-72, 73 L. Ed. 2d 418 (1982); Wolotsky v. Huhn, 960 F.2d 1331, 1335-36 (6th Cir. 1992).
The complaint failed to state a claim under § 1985(3) because, inter alia, that section creates no substantive rights but merely "provides a remedy for violation of the rights it designates," Great American Federal Savings & Loan Association v. Novotny, 442 U.S. 366, 372, 99 S. Ct. 2345, 2349, 60 L. Ed. 2d 957 (1979), and the Supreme Court has held that in light of the enforcement and conciliation mechanism created by Congress for claims under Title VII, see 442 U.S. at 372-78, 99 S. Ct. at 2349-52, the "deprivation of a right created by Title VII cannot be the basis for a cause of action under § 1985(3)," id. at 378, 99 S. Ct. at 2352. The similar mechanism for enforcement and conciliation of claims under the ADEA, e.g., compare 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b) with 29 U.S.C. § 626(b), persuades us that a violation of the ADEA likewise cannot be the basis for a claim under § 1985(3). Cf. Zombro v. Baltimore City Police Department, 868 F.2d 1364, 1366-68 (4th Cir. 1989) (claim under § 1983 may not be predicated on violation of ADEA), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 850, 110 S. Ct. 147, 107 L. Ed. 2d 106 (1989).