Opinion ID: 781366
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 1991-92 failure-to-hire claims: continuing violation

Text: 16 Since the district court issued its decision in this case, the Supreme Court has overruled the continuing violation theory of Title VII liability as it was applied by the district court following prior Ninth Circuit authority. See Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101, 122 S.Ct. 2061, 153 L.Ed.2d 106 (2002), overruling Morgan v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., 232 F.3d 1008 (9th Cir.2000). In reviewing whether the district court properly granted summary judgment against Raad's claims based on the District's refusal to hire her for a full-time position in 1991 and 1992, we are bound to apply current Supreme Court law. 17 In Morgan, the Court drew a distinction between harassment-based and non-harassment-based claims under Title VII: plaintiffs may not establish employer liability for events occurring prior to the statutory limitations period 5 in non-harassment based claims, even if events occurring outside of the limitations period form part of a pattern extending to events that are not time-barred. Morgan, 122 S.Ct. at 2072 (stating that discrete discriminatory acts are not actionable if time barred, even when they are related to acts alleged in timely filed charges); see also id. at 2071 (We have repeatedly interpreted the term `practice' to apply to a discrete act or single `occurrence,' even when it has a connection to other acts.). In other words, a discriminatory practice, although it may extend over time and through a series of related acts, remains divisible into a set of discrete acts, legal action on the basis of which must be brought within the statutory limitations period. 18 Here, Raad filed her EEO charge with the ASCHR on September 16, 1993. Because she filed her charge with the state agency, the 300-day limitations period governs her claim. Therefore, the District may be held liable only for discriminatory acts perpetrated within 300 days of September 16, 1993, counting backward from that date. As a result, Raad's claims based on the District's denial of her full-time application in August 1993 for the science position at Lathrop, as well as her claims based on the report of a bomb threat and ensuing disciplinary action, are not time-barred. The District may be held liable for damages caused by these acts, assuming that Raad is able to prove her case. 19 The failure-to-hire claims arising out of Raad's applications in 1991 and 1992 are time-barred; however, their supporting factual allegations may remain relevant to Raad's live claims. See Morgan, 122 S.Ct. at 2072; United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans, 431 U.S. 553, 558, 97 S.Ct. 1885, 52 L.Ed.2d 571 (1977). Accordingly, while these claims are not independently actionable, evidence about the District's refusal to hire Raad for a full-time teaching position in 1991 and 1992 is relevant and admissible insofar as it bears on her claim that she was discriminatorily refused a full-time position in August 1993.