Opinion ID: 592900
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Complaint Two

Text: 13 In the late summer or early fall of 1985, Ransom offered a second improvement suggestion to the Depot. It was rejected on October 18, 1985. Ransom resubmitted the suggestion on November 12, 1985, and it was again denied on December 2, 1985. In late November, Ransom noticed that other employees were following the procedure he had unsuccessfully suggested. Ransom believed that he was denied the appropriate bonus because of his race (a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000-2(a)(1)). He requested EEO counseling on December 2, 1985, and filed a formal complaint with the EEO on March 12, 1986. The EEO rejected his complaint on June 2, 1987, on the ground that he failed to bring it to an EEO counselor within 30 days of the Depot's rejection of his suggestion. Ransom appealed to the EEOC, which affirmed the EEO's decision on October 16, 1987. 14 We are unable to say that Ransom can prove no set of circumstances that would entitle him to relief on this claim. Ransom asserts that he did not suspect his employer of discrimination until late November, when he observed his co-workers making use of the suggestion the Depot had rejected. If this assertion is true, it may well describe the earliest date at which Ransom knew or reasonably should have known that the Depot had not rejected his suggestion in good faith, but from discriminatory motives. Under such circumstances, the request for counseling Ransom made on December 2 would have been timely under 29 C.F.R. § 1613.213(a)(l)(i). Consequently, the district court erred by dismissing Ransom's second complaint. 15