Opinion ID: 164869
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Exhaustion of “Like and Related” Claims

Text: Prior to 2002, Tenth Circuit law allowed a party to include in a civil claim those acts that were “like or reasonably related to the allegation of the EEOC charge, including new acts occurring during the pendency of the charge before the EEOC.” Ingels, 42 F.3d at 625 (emphasis added). Whatever the exact scope of that rule was, it is no longer the law. See National R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan , 536 U.S. 101 (2002) (holding, under Title VII, that an employee seeking to recover for discrete acts of alleged discrimination, with respect to which he first filed a discrimination charge with the appropriate state agency, may only recover for those acts occurring within 300 days of the date that the employee filed his charge with the EEOC). In Martinez v. Potter , 347 F.3d 1208, 1210 (10th Cir. 2003), we held that we lacked jurisdiction over a postal employee’s allegations of discrimination -9- because he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as to each discrete incident of discrimination. In Martinez , the plaintiff filed an EEOC complaint for alleged discriminatory acts occurring in 1999. When he filed his civil case, however, he included alleged acts of discrimination that occurred following the EEOC filing, including a September 2000 reprimand and his April 2000 termination. As did the District Court here, the district court in Martinez relied on Ingels to dismiss the postal worker’s claims as unexhausted. On appeal, the postal employee argued that he did not need to exhaust the later claims because they were “like or reasonably related” to the earlier claims made in his EEOC filing. Pointing to the Supreme Court’s decision in Morgan , 536 U.S. 101 (2002), we disagreed, holding that “each discrete incident of [discrimination] constitutes its own ‘unlawful employment practice’ for which administrative remedies must be exhausted.” Martinez , 347 F.3d at 1210. We reasoned that this rule supports the policies of Title VII in that it “put[s] an employer on notice of a violation prior to the commencement of judicial proceedings . . . . [and it] facilitate[s] internal resolution of the issue rather than promoting costly and time-consuming litigation.” 1 Id. at 1211. 1 The Supreme Court has specifically noted that this rule does not apply to claims of hostile environment because, by definition, such claims are based on a string of incidents rather than separate acts. See Davidson v. America Online, Inc., 337 F.3d 1179, 1185 (10th Cir. 2003) (discussing Morgan). Ms. Tucker (continued...) - 10 - Although the District Court did not rely on Martinez in rendering its decision, we may affirm on any grounds supported by the record. United States v. Lang , 364 F.3d 1210, 1222 (10th Cir. 2004). As such, under Martinez , Ms. Tucker’s “like and related” claim must fail. It is clear that Ms. Tucker’s 1999 pay dispute and her 2001 discharge claim are “discrete incidents” of employment discrimination. Thus, she must fully exhaust her administrative remedies as to each claim.