Opinion ID: 1991083
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Continuing Violation Doctrine

Text: [¶10] LePage acknowledges that BIW's initial decision in April 2002 not to qualify him to carry a firearm occurred outside the applicable statute of limitations periods. However, LePage contends that it was not until his May 2003 meeting with Gildart that he believed he was the victim of discrimination, and that BIW's discriminatory actions did not acquire any degree of permanence until he received Dr. Mazorra's October 30, 2003, letter. LePage asserts that under the continuing violation doctrine, the applicable statute of limitations did not begin to run until he was aware of the discrimination or until BIW's decision became permanent by virtue of this final letter that affirmed that an end point ha[d] been reached. [¶11] The continuing violation doctrine arises from equitable concerns and is intended to toll applicable limitation periods until a reasonable person would have become aware of the facts supporting the claim of discrimination. Glass v. Petro-Tex Chem. Corp., 757 F.2d 1554, 1560-61 (5th Cir.1985). Accordingly, a discriminatory act must have a degree of permanence, sufficient to put a reasonable claimant on notice of discrimination in order to begin the limitations period. See id. at 1561 n. 5. Mere suspicion and rumor are insufficient to establish that the plaintiff knew or should have known of the discrimination. See id. at 1562. [¶12] The United States Supreme Court examined the application of the continuing violation doctrine in Title VII employment discrimination cases in National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101, 122 S.Ct. 2061, 153 L.Ed.2d 106 (2002). Under federal law, claims of discrimination must be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission either 180 or 300 days after the alleged unlawful . . . practice occurred. 42 U.S.C.S. § 2000e-5(e)(1) (LexisNexis 2005). The Court construed the word practice as relating to a discrete act or single `occurrence,' even when it has a connection to other acts. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., 536 U.S. at 111, 122 S.Ct. 2061. Discrete acts such as termination, failure to promote, denial of transfer, or refusal to hire are easy to identify, with each incident constituting a separate actionable `unlawful employment practice,' id. at 114, 122 S.Ct. 2061 from which the statute of limitations begins to run. The Court distinguished claims arising from discrete acts of discrimination from claims arising from a hostile work environment involving an aggregation of a series of acts in which the `unlawful employment practice' . . . cannot be said to occur on any particular day. Id. at 115, 122 S.Ct. 2061. [¶13] The question for decision is whether BIW's alleged discriminatory act, initially expressed in the April 2002 letter, had reached a sufficient degree of permanence at that point in time to put LePage on notice of his duty to assert his rights under the MHRA. If so, it is properly characterized as a discrete act of alleged discrimination; if not, it is properly analyzed as the beginning point of a series of acts which, taken in the aggregate, may constitute alleged discrimination. For the reasons that follow, we agree with the court's conclusion that BIW's April 2002 decision was a discrete act of alleged discrimination from which the six-month statute of limitations established in 5 M.R.S. § 4611 began to run. [¶14] As a consequence of the decision communicated by the April 30, 2002, letter, LePage knew that he had been found unqualified to carry a firearm, he did not receive a firearm, and he was denied the pay raise received by his co-workers who were found qualified to carry a firearm. LePage told Mazorra at a follow-up meeting in June 2002 that he felt humiliated by BIW's decision. Had LePage brought suit immediately following his receipt of Dr. Mazorra's letter, BIW would be hard-pressed to claim that LePage had not suffered adverse action in connection with BIW's response to his psychological examination. [¶15] The fact that Dr. Mazorra held out hope to LePage that she would reconsider her decision if LePage obtained counseling and his circumstances changed does not alter the fact that the alleged discrimination had occurred. A discriminatory act is a discriminatory act, even if the employer represents that it may change its position if the employee's circumstances change. See De Leon Otero v. Rubero, 820 F.2d 18, 19-20 (1st Cir. 1987); Velazquez v. Chardon, 736 F.2d 831, 833 (1st Cir.1984). Dr. Mazorra's interactions with LePage resulting from her willingness to reconsider her decision did not give rise to new, discrete acts of discrimination, but were instead events resulting from the decision that gave it continuing effect. See Del. State Coll. v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 261, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980) (The existence of [post-decision] procedures to assure fairness in [an employer's] tenure decision [regarding an employee] should not obscure the principle that limitations periods normally commence when the employer's decision is made.); Sharp v. United Airlines, Inc., 236 F.3d 368, 373 (7th Cir.2001) (concluding that an employer's subsequent refusals to reconsider its allegedly discriminatory decision does not constitute a continuing course of discrimination); Velazquez, 736 F.2d at 833 (recognizing that the ongoing effects of a discriminatory act do not, standing alone, establish a continuing violation). Thus, contrary to the view expressed in the dissenting opinion, the appropriate standard is not whether an employer's alleged discriminatory act has reached a state of actual or absolute finality or permanence, but rather, whether the employee has receive[d] unambiguous and authoritative notice of the discriminatory act. Morris v. Gov't Dev. Bank of P.R., 27 F.3d 746, 749 (1st Cir.1994). [¶16] Dr. Mazorra's April 30, 2002, letter marks the starting point for the applicable limitations periods because it provided LePage unambiguous and authoritative notice of the alleged discriminatory decision of which he now complains. LePage's claims are time-barred because, as measured from the April 30, 2002, letter, his November 20, 2003, complaint to the Commission was filed more than six months after the alleged act of discrimination, 5 M.R.S. § 4611, and also because his civil action was filed with the Superior Court on September 10, 2004, more than two years after the alleged act of discrimination, id. § 4613(2)(C). [2]