Opinion ID: 799452
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Overview of Title VII's Pre-suit Requirements

Text: Section 706 of Title VII, the provision under which the EEOC sued, authorizes the EEOC to bring suit in its own name, on behalf of a person or persons aggrieved by the employer's unlawful employment practice. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1); accord Gen. Tel. Co. of Nw. v. EEOC, 446 U.S. 318, 324, 100 S.Ct. 1698, 64 L.Ed.2d 319 (1980) (Given the clear purpose of Title VII, the EEOC's jurisdiction over enforcement, and the remedies available, the EEOC need look no further than § 706 for its authority to bring suit in its own name for the purpose, among others, of securing relief for a group of aggrieved individuals.). However, [a]s originally enacted[,] Title VII did not empower the [EEOC] to sue employers to enforce the Act. EEOC v. Hickey-Mitchell Co., 507 F.2d 944, 947 (8th Cir.1974) (citing Act of July 2, 1964, Pub.L. 88-352, tit. VII, 78 Stat. 253). Rather, [c]ooperation and voluntary compliance were selected as the preferred means for achieving equality of employment opportunities. Voluntary compliance proved elusive, however, as more than half of the EEOC's conciliation efforts were deemed unsuccessful. Consequently, Congress enacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 which amended Title VII to permit the EEOC suits. The statutory mandate that the EEOC attempt conciliation was not abandoned, however, and the Act expressly conditions the EEOC's power of suit on its inability to secure from the respondent a conciliation agreement acceptable to the EEOC. Id. (internal footnotes omitted); accord Occidental Life Ins. Co. of Cal. v. EEOC, 432 U.S. 355, 368, 97 S.Ct. 2447, 53 L.Ed.2d 402 (1977). Thus, [i]n the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Congress established an integrated, multistep enforcement procedure culminating in the EEOC's authority to bring a civil action in a federal court. Occidental Life Ins. Co., 432 U.S. at 359, 97 S.Ct. 2447 (internal footnote omitted). First, an employee files with the EEOC a charge alleging that an employer has engaged in an unlawful employment practice. Id. Second, [t]he EEOC is then required to investigate the charge and determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that it is true. Id. If reasonable cause does exist, the EEOC moves to the third step, which attempts to remedy the objectionable employment practice through the informal, nonjudicial means `of conference, conciliation, and persuasion.' Id. (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b)). However, if unsuccessful, the EEOC may move to the fourth and final step and bring a civil action to redress the charge. Id. at 359-60, 97 S.Ct. 2447 (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1)). As we have recognized, the EEOC's `power of suit and administrative process [are not] unrelated activities, [but] sequential steps in a unified scheme for securing compliance with Title VII.' Hickey-Mitchell Co., 507 F.2d at 948 (alterations in original) (emphasis added) (quoting EEOC v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 373 F.Supp. 1321, 1333 (D.Del. 1974)); accord EEOC v. Am. Nat'l Bank, 652 F.2d 1176, 1185 (4th Cir.1981).