Opinion ID: 767863
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jordan's Failure-to-Process Claim

Text: 8 Jordan claims that Customs improperly failed to process her 1995 EEO complaint, and she asks us to order Customs to process it for an EEOC hearing. Customs argues, as it did below, that this request must be denied because Jordan fails to state a valid claim under Title VII or, in any event, the uncontradicted evidence shows that Customs did properly process Jordan's claim. The district court assumed, without deciding, that Jordan stated a valid failure-to-process claim but then found that Customs, in fact, had processed the claim. While we agree with the district court's disposition, we believe that the evidence need not have been considered because Jordan does not state a valid claim for relief under Title VII, and we can decide this issue on that basis. See Alexander v. Rush N. Shore Med. Ctr., 101 F.3d 487, 490 (7th Cir. 1996) ([W]e may affirm the judgment of the district court on any sufficient basis supported by the record.). 9 Neither party points to a case that either directly supports or undermines Jordan's failure- to-process cause of action against the EEO, but an analogy to EEOC practice is instructive here. Just as the EEOC processes complaints of discrimination from employees in the private sector, each federal agency must have an EEO Division to process complaints from agency employees. See 29 C.F.R. pt. 1614. It is well established that a private-sector employee has no cause of action against the EEOC for its failure to process a charge of discrimination. See McCottrell v. EEOC, 726 F.2d 350, 351 (7th Cir. 1984) (It is settled law, in this and other circuits, that Title VII does not provide either an express or implied cause of action against the EEOC to challenge its investigation and processing of a charge.). See also Smith v. Casellas, 119 F.3d 33, 34 (D.C. Cir. 1997); Baba v. Japan Travel Bureau Int'l, Inc., 111 F.3d 2, 5-6 (2d Cir. 1997); Scheerer v. Rose State College, 950 F.2d 661, 663 (10th Cir. 1991); Ward v. EEOC, 719 F.2d 311, 313 (9th Cir. 1983); Francis-Sobel v. University of Maine, 597 F.2d 15, 18 (1st Cir. 1979); Gibson v. Missouri Pac. R.R., 579 F.2d 890, 891 (5th Cir. 1978). The proper course for a private plaintiff whose claim the EEOC mishandled is to bring a lawsuit against the plaintiff's employer on the merits, not one against the EEOC. See McCottrell, 726 F.2d at 352. A similar rule is warranted here. Jordan presents no persuasive reason why she, as a federal employee, should be given an implied failure-to-process cause of action under Title VII that has been consistently denied to private plaintiffs. And even if the EEO Division botched the processing of her complaint, Jordan is now already in a federal court on the merits, and any earlier mishandling is essentially moot. Jordan's failure-to-process claim does not state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and Customs is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We, therefore, affirm the district court's decision to grant summary judgment on Count 1 of Jordan's complaint.