Opinion ID: 3051354
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Exhaustion of Title VII Claims

Text: A person seeking relief under Title VII must first file a charge with the EEOC within 180 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice, or, if, as here, the person initially instituted proceedings with the state or local administrative agency, within 300 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1). If the EEOC does not bring suit based on the charge, the EEOC must “notify the person aggrieved” that she can file suit. Id. § 2000e-5(f)(1). The notice is accomplished through a right-to-sue letter. Once a person receives an EEOC right-to-sue letter, she has 90 days to file suit. Id. § 2000e-5(f)(1). [2] Although Surrell never filed a charge directly with the EEOC, her charge filed with the State Employment Department is deemed filed with the EEOC pursuant to a worksharing agreement between the two entities. See Green v. Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools, 883 F.2d 1472, 1476 (9th Cir. 1989) (charge filed with the State Employment Department “is deemed to have been received by the EEOC on the same day . . . because under the worksharing agreement the [State Employment Department] was an agent of the EEOC for the purpose of receiving charges”). The State Employment Department also provided her with a state right-to-sue letter, which notes that “[i]f a federal notice of Right-To-Sue is wanted, the [EEOC] must be visited to file a complaint within 30 days of this [notice] or within 300 days of the alleged discriminatory act, whichever is earlier.” ER at 32. Surrell, however, never obtained a federal rightto-sue letter from the EEOC. Cal Water and Cox contend that this failure bars her claim. Surrell responds that obtaining the state right-to-sue letter suffices for her suit to proceed. This SURRELL v. CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE 2337 issue raises two questions: (1) whether the federal right-to-sue letter is an absolute jurisdictional prerequisite, or whether it is simply a general requirement for a Title VII claim that may be excused in particular cases; and (2) if simply a general requirement, whether that requirement should be excused here. [3] Failure to obtain a federal right-to-sue letter does not preclude federal jurisdiction. In Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 393 (1982), the Supreme Court held that, although Title VII requires that plaintiffs timely exhaust administrative remedies, “filing a timely charge of discrimination with the EEOC is not a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit in federal court, but a requirement that, like a statute of limitations, is subject to waiver, estoppel, and equitable tolling.” The Supreme Court explained that Title VII’s timeliness provision is entirely separate from Title VII’s jurisdictional provisions and “does not speak in jurisdictional terms or refer in any way to the jurisdiction of the district courts.” Id. at 394. Because Title VII’s provisions requiring notice of the right to sue are similarly separate from the jurisdictional provisions, the right-to-sue requirement is similarly non-jurisdictional. See Temengil v. Trust Territory of Pacific Islands, 881 F.2d 647, 654 (9th Cir. 1989) (“Pursuit of administrative remedies is a condition precedent to a Title VII claim. The requirement, however, is not jurisdictional.”) (citations omitted); KarimPanahi v. Los Angeles Police Dep’t, 839 F.2d 621, 626 (9th Cir. 1988) (explaining that “Plaintiff must file a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and receive a right-to-sue letter from the Commission,” and that, under Zipes, “[f]ailure to observe these requirements renders a suit subject to dismissal in the absence of any equitable consideration to the contrary”) (emphasis added); see also Pietras v. Bd. of Fire Comm’rs, 180 F.3d 468, 474 (2d Cir. 1999) (“Every circuit before us that has faced the question has held that a plaintiff’s failure to obtain a notice-of-right-to-sue[ ]letter is not a jurisdictional 2338 SURRELL v. CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE bar, but only a precondition to bringing a Title VII action that can be waived by the parties or the court.”). [4] The general requirement of a federal right-to-sue letter remains, however. Courts typically look to the relative fault of the parties to determine whether the failure to obtain a right-to-sue letter should be excused. See, e.g., Pietras, 180 F.3d at 474 (allowing claim to proceed where EEOC erroneously refused to send right-to-sue letter and plaintiff was diligent in seeking it). Such an inquiry could pose significant problems for Surrell, who was specifically notified by the State Employment Department that she needed to visit the EEOC to obtain a federal right-to-sue letter. See, e.g., Roman v. Cty. of Los Angeles, 85 Cal. App. 4th 316, 326 (Cal. App. 2000) (barring Title VII claim because “the [state] right-tosue notice specifically advised appellant that if he wanted a federal right-to-sue notice he had to file a complaint with the EEOC”). On the other hand, courts have also concluded that once a plaintiff is entitled to receive a right-to-sue letter (as Surrell was once the EEOC did not timely act on her properly filed charge), it makes no difference whether the plaintiff actually obtained it. See, e.g., Moore v. City of Charlotte, 754 F.3d 1100, 1104 n.1 (4th Cir. 1985) (“Entitlement to the letter, without actual receipt of it, is sufficient to support federal jurisdiction.”). Indeed, courts have reached that conclusion in this precise context where worksharing agreements exist between the federal and state agencies. See Burke v. Cornerstone, No. 07-889, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76662, at -6 (D. Conn. Oct. 12, 2007) (“[A]s the purposes of the exhaustion requirement—to provide notice to parties charged with violations and to facilitate voluntary compliance should the investigating agency find merit in the complaint—have been served by the state proceeding, the Court does not view the omission of the actual right-to-sue letter as grounds for dismissal.”); but cf. Jones v. Grinnell Corp., 235 F.3d 972, 975 (5th Cir. 2001) (“federal-state cooperation does not extend to the exhaustion of administrative remedies”). This is a persuasive approach, which we now adopt. We hold that where, as here, a plaintiff SURRELL v. CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE 2339 is entitled to receive a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC, a plaintiff may proceed absent such a letter, provided she has received a right-to-sue letter from the appropriate state agency. Thus, Surrell’s claims may proceed.