Opinion ID: 389939
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 300-Day Limitation

Text: 71 Defendants' other principal challenge to the district court's ruling under Title VII is based on the statute of limitations established by § 706(e) of the Act. That section provides that in order to maintain a suit under Title VII, a plaintiff must have filed a charge of discrimination with EEOC within 300 days of the alleged discriminatory act. 17 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e) (1976). See, e. g., United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans, 431 U.S. 553, 555 n.4, 97 S.Ct. 1885, 1887 n.4, 52 L.Ed.2d 571 (1977); Cates v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 561 F.2d 1064 (2d Cir. 1977). The City's last hirings based on the 1971 exam occurred on May 2, 1973, and there were no further hirings until after 1975. Plaintiffs' first EEOC charge pertaining to defendants' hiring practices was filed in October 1975. Defendants argue, therefore, that insofar as plaintiffs' claims relate to the 1973 and earlier hirings, they are barred by the 300-day period of limitations. This contention takes an impermissibly myopic view of the nature of the City's unlawful conduct. 72 As a general matter, the mere continuation of a discriminatory act's effects, when the act itself occurred prior to the pertinent limitations period, is not sufficient to support recovery under Title VII. United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans, supra, 431 U.S. at 558, 97 S.Ct. at 1889. See also Delaware State College v. Ricks, -- U.S. --, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980). The act that constitutes the violation must be still fresh within the statutory period. Egelston v. State University College, 535 F.2d 752, 755 (2d Cir. 1976). Thus, had the 1971 exam and the hiring on the basis of that exam been isolated acts of discrimination, defendants' statute of limitations argument would be well taken, even though the effects of that past discrimination were still being felt by reason of the resulting racial makeup of the fire department. 73 Where, however, the defendant has engaged in a continuous policy of discrimination, acts in furtherance of that policy are not viewed in isolation. In such circumstances if the charge has been filed no later than 300 days after the last act by the defendant pursuant to its policy, the plaintiff may recover for earlier acts of discrimination as well. See Guardians III, supra, 633 F.2d at 249; Acha v. Beame, 570 F.2d 57, 65 (2d Cir. 1978); see also Smith v. American President Lines, Ltd., 571 F.2d 102 (2d Cir. 1978). In Acha v. Beame, we stated this principle as follows: 74 To succeed at trial, the appellants must be able to demonstrate a Title VII violation occurring after the effective date of the Act and within the period of the statute of limitations, or 300 day charge-filing period. But such a violation is not limited to hiring violations per se. 75 A continuously maintained illegal employment policy may be the subject of a valid complaint until a specified number of days after the last occurrence of an instance of that policy Furthermore, where an illegal policy is so maintained, relief for injuries sustained even before the beginning of the limitations period is appropriate. 76 570 F.2d at 65 (emphasis in original; citations omitted). 77 There can be no doubt that the continuous-policy principle governs the present case. The district court made express findings as to several discriminatory acts by the City that occurred within 300 days of October 1975. These included the giving of the 1975 exam that was not job related and had discriminatory impact, and the individual acts of discrimination against several minority candidates who sought to take that exam in 1975. In addition, the court found that the City had engaged in a continuing pattern and practice of post-Title VII discrimination against black and hispanic persons, 479 F.Supp. at 104; that it had a continuing policy and practice of discriminating against black and hispanic persons, id. at 111-12; and that it had engaged in a 'clear-cut pattern of long-continued and egregious racial discrimination,'  id. at 112. The court concluded as follows: This Court also finds that the discrimination has been 'long-continued' whether one examines the entire history of the City's hiring of firefighters or only its post-Act conduct. Id. at 113. 78 In light of these findings, which are not clearly erroneous, the City's 1975 discriminatory acts cannot be divorced from its earlier acts or its overall history. We conclude that all of plaintiffs' Title VII claims are timely, and we affirm the ruling of the district court that the City violated Title VII from March 24, 1972, by making appointments after that date that had discriminatory impact, based on its discriminatory 1971 test.