Opinion ID: 779452
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: McFarland timely initiated her grievance with the EEOC

Text: 22 We must construe all of the facts at the summary judgment stage of the case in McFarland's favor, Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986), in deciding whether McFarland complied with the 45-day grievance deadline as a precondition to bringing suit. So even though the concept of a continuing violation did not enter into McFarland's argument in her district court filings, she pled from the very beginning that the Postal Service's acts of discrimination had created a hostile work environment. In an opinion filed after the district court decided the present case, the Supreme Court recognized that the very nature of a hostile work environment involves repeated conduct. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 122 S.Ct. 2061, 2073, 153 L.Ed.2d 106 (2002). The unlawful employment practice in a hostile work environment occurs over a series of days or perhaps years and, in direct contrast to [claims based upon] discrete acts, a single act of harassment may not be actionable on its own. Id. Given, therefore, that the incidents comprising a hostile work environment are part of one unlawful employment practice, the employer may be liable for all acts that are part of this single claim. In order for the charge to be timely, the employee need only file a charge within [the applicable time period] of any act that is part of the hostile work environment. Id. at 2075. A hostile-work-environment claim thus has an effect similar to that of a continuing violation composed of successive discrete acts, in that the existence of the hostile work environment within the 45-day time limit causes the actionable violation to encompass conduct that occurred outside of the limit. 23 McFarland's EEOC grievance was therefore timely initiated if it was based upon a hostile work environment that existed less than 45 days before June 23, 1999. The harassing conduct in the present case was alleged to have started on or about March 28, 1999, with Geronimo's attempted kiss and his comments about McFarland's lips and neck. McFarland perceived that Geronimo thereafter treated her differently than other casual employees, and that this treatment extended past May 9, 1999, which was 45 days before she initiated her EEOC grievance. The incident in which Geronimo allegedly permitted the magazine to fall on McFarland's hand occurred in June of 1999. McFarland's complaint that Geronimo refused her the option of working through lunch concerned conduct that took place throughout her tenure at the Toledo Post Office. As late as June 22, 1999, McFarland learned that Geronimo was speaking of her in a manner likely to cause McFarland to lose esteem in the eyes of her coworkers. Lewis confronted McFarland, saying that Geronimo had told her that McFarland had spread innuendos regarding Lewis and Eddie Robert, a union representative. Based upon this information from Lewis, McFarland told Petrusky that Robert Geronimo was causing me problems again. The next day, McFarland contacted an EEO Counselor. 24 McFarland argued in the district court that this conduct, together with Geronimo's treatment of her dating back to the attempted kiss, amounted to an environment permeated with unfounded lies about her alleged sexual promiscuity, her competence as an employee, her being assigned to less desirable work assignments, and having her hours reduced. Given that the above incidents occurred in June, and that her poor treatment by Geronimo allegedly stemmed from her earlier rejection of his sexual advance, McFarland has alleged facts sufficient to state a claim that a hostile work environment existed less than 45 days prior to the date of her first contact with the EEOC. We therefore conclude that McFarland satisfied the administrative requirements necessary for her to bring the present suit. In light of our conclusion that McFarland's grievance was timely initiated, we need not address her equitable estoppel and tolling arguments. 25 We reiterate that it is entirely understandable, given McFarland's concession on the issue of timeliness and the fact that the Supreme Court's decision in Morgan had not yet been issued, why the district court failed to determine the legal correctness of her concession. But it is the task of the court to apply the law as it is, not just as the parties describe it. The facts as set forth in the complaint and McFarland's affidavit, all of which must be construed in her favor when evaluating the Postal Service's motion for summary judgment, make it plain that she satisfied the 45-day grievance deadline under her hostile-work-environment claim. We therefore conclude that McFarland's lawsuit survives this procedural hurdle, although we express no opinion on the substantive merits of her complaint.