Opinion ID: 64509
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Consequences of the Tolling Period Selection

Text: The most important question before us is the extent to which the Morgan class action tolled the statute of limitations governing Taylor's claims. The district court correctly determined that Taylor's non-Title VII promotion claims are subject to a one-year statute of limitations, Taylor v. Bunge Corp., 775 F.2d 617, 618 (5th Cir.1985), LA. CIV.CODE ANN. art. 3492, while his non-Title VII pay disparity claims are subject to a four-year statute of limitations, White v. BFI Waste Services, LLC, 375 F.3d 288, 291-92 (4th Cir.2004), 28 U.S.C. § 1658. Thus, those are the key periods we examine. UPS argues, as the district court found, that Taylor's claims were tolled only from June 17, 1994 (when the Morgan suit was filed) to June 26, 2000, the date the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed the class claims in Morgan. Taylor argues that his claims were tolled from June 17, 1994 to August 30, 2004, the date the Eighth Circuit affirmed that dismissal. Because Taylor did not file his individual suit until 2003, the tolling period choice controls the timeliness of Taylor's suit on a number of his claims. For the promotion claims (governed by a one-year statute of limitations), if we accept UPS's argument and permit tolling only from 1994 to 2000, the statute of limitations for all claims during that period expired, at the latest, in 2001, one year after tolling ended. If UPS and the district court are correct, Taylor's 2003 suit was only timely to assert his claims for discrimination that occurred within the one-year period prior to filing suit, from March 2002 forward. On the other hand, if, as Taylor contends, tolling is permitted until 2004, when the Eighth Circuit affirmed the Morgan dismissal, then Taylor's 2003 suit was filed within the tolling period and his suit may timely assert promotion claims from as early as 1993, one year prior to the filing of the Morgan class action. Because Taylor's suit actually does assert promotion claims dating back to the mid-1990s, the choice of tolling periods is crucial to his promotion claims. Taylor's pay disparity claims are subject to a four-year statute of limitations, and Taylor's 2003 suit was filed within four years of the Morgan district court's 2000 dismissal. Thus, whether tolling ended in 2000 or in 2004, Taylor may assert claims predating the filing of Morgan in 1994. Based on the 2000 date, the district court found that Taylor could assert pay claims arising on or after March 9, 1993. 421 F.Supp.2d at 954-55. To determine the earliest claims Taylor could timely assert, we count back four years from 1994, when the Morgan class action was filed. Thus, in theory, Taylor could assert claims dating back to 1990. Although Taylor's complaint asserts pay disparity claims from November 1991, Taylor concedes on appeal that his pay claims are only from 1993 through 2004. Thus, we consider only Taylor's pay disparity claims from 1993 forward.