Court Opinion

ID: 9466469
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:16:47.674413+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:45.141038
License: Public Domain

REAVLEY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I regard the majority holding as contrary to the statutory language of section 706 of Title VII. Subsection (b) of that section, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b) (1976), provides that the EEOC is not empowered to proceed to informal methods of resolution of the alleged unlawful employment practice unless it determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that the charge filed by the complaining party is true. Subsection (f), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f) (1976), authorizes the EEOC to file suit only if the informal methods of resolution prove fruitless. It follows that a reasonable cause finding on the charge filed by the complaining party is an indispensable condition to suit by the EEOC.
The cases cited by the majority are not to the contrary. Georgia Power Co. v. EEOC, 412 F.2d 462 (5th Cir. 1969), involved only the proper scope of discovery by the EEOC, during investigation of a charge but prior to any determination regarding reasonable cause. EEOC v. D. H. Holmes Co., 556 F.2d 787 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 962, 98 S.Ct. 3082, 57 L.Ed.2d 1129 (1978), was concerned with whether the lower court had properly characterized the suit as a class action and whether the Commission is required to comply with Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 when it brings a class action. The opinion mentions that five charges had been filed against the employer but is mute on whether the Commission found reasonable cause to believe any were true. Holmes does not stand for the proposition that the EEOC staff may institute suit whenever it decides an unlawful practice has been uncovered despite the fact that no valid charge is before it. Sanchez v. Standard Brands, Inc., 431 F.2d 455 (5th Cir. 1970), and EEOC *1026v. Huttig Sash & Door Co., 511 F.2d 453 (5th Cir. 1970), are even less pertinent. Sanchez involved suit by the complaining party. The decision had nothing to do with an EEOC suit because Congress had not yet amended section 706 of Title VII to allow the EEOC to sue under that section. Moreover, the EEOC did find reasonable cause to believe that one of the complaining party’s charges was true. Similarly, in Huttig Sash & Door, the EEOC found reasonable cause to believe that one of the charges filed by the complaining party was true. Consequently there was no bar to the EEOC proceeding to informal methods of solution.
Congress did not leave the EEOC powerless when it uncovers other practices which it considers unlawful in the course of an investigation of a section 706 charge which is determined to be meritless. A separate charge may be filed by a member of the Commission under section 706 and conciliation efforts may proceed on the Commissioner’s charge. Alternatively, the EEOC may decide to file a pattern or practice suit pursuant to section 707, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-6 (1976).
Conscientious adherence to the statutory prerequisites is more than an exaltation of form over substance. The language of the statute insures that trifles do not become subjects of EEOC suits and that employers are not harassed by an overzealous EEOC staff. The employer must be engaged in a practice that is sufficiently important to cause an employee to complain to the EEOC and to deserve investigation. If no employee complains, it must warrant the filing of a complaint by a member of the Commission or be sufficiently widespread to justify a pattern or practice suit by the EEOC. I recognize that once the EEOC finds reasonable cause to believe a charge is true, it may eventually file suit on any unlawful practice it discovers in the course of a reasonable investigation. Huttig Sash & Door, 511 F.2d at 453. This does not yield an incongruity because once there is a reasonable cause finding with respect to one charge, it is less likely that other complaints are trifles or harassment.
Today’s decision places dangerous leverage in the hands of chronic complainers willing to point an accusing finger and charge employment discrimination. The employer may know a threatened charge is unfounded and he may know that the EEOC will rapidly discover that it is merit-less. But those who learn of this decision will also know that judicial imprimatur is placed upon plenary investigations of all the employment practices of an employer despite the fact that the charge is patently frivolous. The employer may not wish to bear the inconvenience and expense of the EEOC investigation rather than capitulate to the petty extortion of the disgruntled complainer.