Opinion ID: 480204
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Title VII Limitations Period

Text: 12 The district court held that any Title VII claim arising prior to May 20, 1979, i.e., more than 180 days prior to November 16, 1979, the date Merrill lodged her first charge of discrimination with the EEOC, was barred. We agree. This ruling excluded all claims except those based on wage discrimination and the tenure denial, including claims based on Merrill's original terms of employment, the lack of secretarial assistance, the lack of research leave, and the fact that Merrill shared an office with another professor. 4 13 Section 706(e) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(e), requires a discrimination victim to file a complaint with the EEOC within 180 days of the act's occurrence. Any act occurring more than 180 days prior to filing may constitute relevant background evidence in a proceeding in which the status of a current practice is at issue, but separately considered, it is merely an unfortunate event in history which has no present legal consequences. United Air Lines v. Evans, 431 U.S. 553, 97 S.Ct. 1885, 1889, 52 L.Ed.2d 571 (1977). 5 Merrill does not dispute this rule, nor has she ever sought redress for stale discrimination under the continuing violations theory that we analyzed in Berry v. Board of Supervisors, 715 F.2d 971 (5th Cir.1983), on appeal following remand, 783 F.2d 1270 (5th Cir.1986). Instead, she argues that in determining whether a particular claim is time-barred, a court should focus on the date the victim first perceives that a discriminatory motive caused the act, rather than the actual date of the act itself. Merrill says her claims are timely because she did not fully appreciate the discriminatory animus underlying SMU's treatment of her until June 15, 1979. Actually, however, the evidence shows that appellant became convinced that she had been a victim of sex discrimination at SMU during late September 1978, and made informal inquiries of the EEOC at that time. Further, appellant's theory is not supported in existing law. 14 The leading case on this subject is Delaware State College v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980). It emphasizes that the limitations period starts running on the date the discriminatory act occurs. 101 S.Ct. at 504. This Circuit has also consistently focused on the date that plaintiff knew of the discriminatory act. For example, in Cervantes v. Imco Halliburton Services, 724 F.2d 511 (5th Cir.1984), we said, Under established federal law, the 180-day limitations period for Title VII claims ... begin[s] to accrue 'when the plaintiff knows or reasonably should know that the discriminatory act has occurred.'  Id. at 513 (quoting McWilliams v. Escambia County School Board, 658 F.2d 326, 330 (5th Cir.1981)). These holdings cannot be reconciled with Merrill's proposed rule. It might be years before a person apprehends that unpleasant events in the past were caused by illegal discrimination. In the meantime, under Merrill's theory, the employer would remain vulnerable to suits based on these old acts. Merrill's proposal is inconsistent with the Supreme Court's language in Ricks that the Title VII limitations period is partially designed to protect employers from the burden of defending claims arising from employment decisions that are long past, 101 S.Ct. at 503, and its comment in Evans that employers are entitled to treat past acts as lawful when the employee does not file a charge of discrimination within the statutory time. 97 S.Ct. at 1889. The district court did not err in its application of the limitations period.