Opinion ID: 166561
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Analysis of Tenth Circuit Precedent

Text: 29 Accordingly, we hold that a private sector employee must cooperate with the EEOC in order for the employee to exhaust his or her administrative remedies under the ADEA. While we hold that a private sector employee must cooperate with the EEOC, we emphasize that compliance must be judged by commonsense standards. Perfect cooperation with the EEOC is not required. Rather, a claimant must merely cooperate as part of a good faith attempt to allow the EEOC a reasonable opportunity to reach the merits of his or her charge. See Khader, 1 F.3d at 971. It is only when a plaintiff's non-cooperation effectively prevents the EEOC's investigation and conclusion efforts such that the EEOC proceeding essentially becomes a sham or meaningless proceeding that a charging party's non-cooperation will amount to a failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Thus, we expect that it will be rare for a charging party's non-cooperation to be a basis for the defendant to challenge the court's jurisdiction. Further, most claimants will provide at least minimal cooperation with the EEOC as it is ordinarily in the self-interest of a claimant to attempt to resolve his or her case quickly and informally with the benefit of the EEOC's expert assistance.