Opinion ID: 166561
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Effect of EEOC Conduct on Judicial Review

Text: 50 The EEOC also argues that requiring a charging party to cooperate with the EEOC is in tension with a long line of cases holding that the EEOC's conduct during the administrative process does not affect the charging party's right to a de novo judicial determination of the merits of his complaint. (EEOC Br. at 18.) See, e.g., Scheerer v. Rose State College, 950 F.2d 661, 663 (10th Cir.1991); Associated Dry Goods Corp. v. EEOC, 720 F.2d 804, 809 & 812 (4th Cir.1983); Ward v. EEOC, 719 F.2d 311, 313-14 (9th Cir.1983). The EEOC's principal concern is that if it dismisses cases based upon an EEOC determination of a claimant's failure to cooperate, courts will not be able to make a true de novo interpretation of whether cooperation really occurred. The EEOC argues that a district court will not be able to make a de novo determination of whether a plaintiff's non-cooperation constitutes a failure to exhaust without giving some effect to the EEOC's handling of the charge. As a result, the EEOC believes its investigators may feel constrained to retain charges . . . even though that means devoting less time to charges that, in the investigator's judgment, would otherwise warrant more extensive treatment. 51 The EEOC's argument ignores the reality that the district court's review is of the conduct that gave rise to the agency's decision to dismiss, not the agency's decision itself. See McBride, 281 F.3d at 1105-06 (It is for the district court to determine whether the plaintiff has complied with the regulatory requirements when the defendant raises the issue of failure to exhaust administrative remedies.). We have evaluated Shikles' cooperation with the EEOC without relying on the EEOC's decision to dismiss his charge. 8