Opinion ID: 390547
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Date of the Alleged Unlawful Practice

Text: 14 In selecting the effective termination date as the date of the alleged unlawful practice, the district court relied heavily on the analysis in Moses v. Falstaff Brewing Co., 525 F.2d 92 (8th Cir. 1975). In Moses, the plaintiff in an age discrimination suit was notified of her discharge on November 12, and she ceased working for her employer on November 16. However, the plaintiff was officially terminated for administrative purposes on November 30, and she continued to draw vacation pay until that date. The Moses court ruled that the statutory notice period began to run on November 30, because the discharge was not fully implemented until the official termination date. 15 Although the district court's reliance on Moses was reasonable in light of the authority available to it at the time it rendered its decision, other courts since have disapproved of Moses. In Bonham v. Dresser Industries, Inc., 569 F.2d 187 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 821, 99 S.Ct. 87, 58 L.Ed.2d 113 (1978), the court held that an alleged unlawful practice occurs on the date that notice of termination and the last day of work coincide. Rejecting Moses, the court disapproved of a rule focusing on an employer's official termination date; employers might adopt different dates for different administrative purposes, and it would be inappropriate to determine the timeliness of an employee's suit on the basis of records within the exclusive control of the employer. In addition, a rule focusing on the date of termination of economic benefits might dissuade an employer from extending benefits to a discharged employee after the employee had ceased working. Id. at 191-92. Other circuits have adopted the Bonham test or a similar rule. See Wilkerson v. Siegfried Insurance Agency, Inc., 621 F.2d 1042 (10th Cir. 1980); Krzyzewski v. Metropolitan Government, 584 F.2d 802 (6th Cir. 1978) (Title VII); Payne v. Crane Co., 560 F.2d 198 (5th Cir. 1977); cf. Delaware State College v. Ricks, -- U.S. --, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980) (in Title VII action, alleged unlawful practice occurred when college reached a final decision to deny tenure to plaintiff and plaintiff was notified). 3 16 For the reasons expressed in Bonham, we hold that when unequivocal notice of termination and the last day of work coincide, the alleged unlawful practice occurs on that date. In this case, there is no dispute that those events coincided on January 17, 1975. 4 We hold as a matter of law that the alleged unlawful practice occurred on that date, more than 300 days before Naton filed his notice of intent to sue. Because we find that Naton's notice was not timely filed, we consider his argument relating to equitable modification of the limitations period.