Opinion ID: 1767797
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Summary Judgment in Favor of Mr. Edds Precluded

Text: Mr. Edds argues that even if Ms. Hill is entitled to sue Ford, the MHRA does not permit her to assert additional claims against individual supervisors such as himself. However, the MHRA contains a broad definition of employer, stating that under MHRA: (7) Employer includes ... any person employing six or more persons within the state, and any person directly acting in the interest of an employer ... § 213.010.7. As a number of decisions from Missouri's court of appeals have noted, We find that the plain and unambiguous language within the definition of `employer' under the MHRA imposes individual liability in the event of discriminatory conduct. Cooper v. Albacore Holdings, Inc., 204 S.W.3d 238, 244 (Mo.App. E.D.2006); Brady v. Curators of University of Missouri, 213 S.W.3d 101, 113 (Mo.App. E.D. 2006). This Court agrees. The statute is clear that the MHRA is intended to reach not just the corporate or public employer but any person acting directly in the interest of the employer. A supervisory employee clearly falls into that category. Id. Mr. Edds asserts that, in any event, Ms. Hill is precluded from suing him because she failed to name him in her EEOC or MHRA charge of discrimination, as she should have done under section 213.075.1. Because there are no relevant Missouri cases as to the effect of failure to name a person in a charge who is later included in the civil lawsuit, the Court looks to federal law for guidance. Daugherty, 231 S.W.3d at 818. Federal cases construing a similar federal requirement have held that requiring an individual to be named in the charge in order to be included in the later civil suit serves two purposes: to give notice to the charged party and to provide an avenue for voluntary compliance without resort to litigation, such as through the EEOC's conciliation process. Glus v. G.C. Murphy Co., 562 F.2d 880, 888 (3rd Cir.1977); Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 416 F.2d 711, 719 (7th Cir.1969). If allowing suit would not be inconsistent with these purposes, then some federal cases have forgiven a failure to join the individual in the initial charge. Id. Glus holds that these requirements are met where there is a substantial identity of interest between the parties sued and those charged and states that whether a sufficient identity of interest exists requires consideration of numerous factors, including: 1) whether the role of the unnamed party could through reasonable effort by the complainant be ascertained at the time of the filing of the EEOC complaint; 2) whether, under the circumstances, the interests of a named are so similar as the unnamed party's that for the purpose of obtaining voluntary conciliation and compliance it would be unnecessary to include the unnamed party in the EEOC proceedings; 3) whether its absence from the EEOC proceedings resulted in actual prejudice to the interests of the unnamed party; 4) whether the unnamed party has in some way represented to the complainant that its relationship with the complainant is to be through the named party. Glus, 562 F.2d at 888. While Glus recognized the importance of conciliation as a means of possibly resolving matters without resorting to an already overburdened federal court system, it found that: equally important is the availability of complete redress of legitimate grievances without undue encumbrance by procedural requirements especially when demanding full and technical compliance would have no relation to the purposes for requiring those procedures in the first instance. Id. (emphasis added). Ms. Hill argues that Mr. Edds was not prejudiced by being absent from the administrative proceedings. She contends he may have had actual notice that Ms. Hill was complaining that his conduct violated the MHRA because he was a senior supervisor in human resources and Ford's procedures for processing MHRA charges, ironically, dictated that those charges be directed to the position he occupied. She also argues that, because there was no conciliation by the EEOC or MCHR, he was not deprived of participation in conciliation and, hence, suffered no prejudice by the failure to name him as a party in the charge. It does not appear that the trial court considered any of these factors before granting summary judgment as to Mr. Edds. On remand, the trial court should consider whether the factors permitting suit to proceed against Mr. Edds, despite failure to join him during the administrative portion of the process, are satisfied.