Court Opinion

ID: 9479956
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:33:51.360438+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:23.682983
License: Public Domain

MacKENZIE, Senior District Judge,
dissenting:
Although I agree that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding of a discriminatory discharge (Part II) and that the district court improperly awarded both liquidated damages and prejudgment interest (Part IV), I respectfully dissent from that portion of the opinion regarding the timeliness of the pay discrimination claim (Part III).
The statute that governs the time period for filing pay discrimination claims is 29 U.S.C. § 626(d). In clear and unequivocal language, § 626(d) states that no civil action may be filed
“until 60 days after a charge alleging unlawful discrimination has been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. Such a charge shall be filed—
(1) within 180 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurred_”
29 U.S.C. § 626(d) (emphasis added).
The plaintiff was discharged on April 21, 1986; accordingly, any discrimination in pay occurred no later than April 21, 1986. The plaintiff raised a pay discrimination charge with the EEOC for the first time on September 16, 1987, seventeen months after the alleged unlawful practice occurred.
Although § 626(d) unambiguously establishes a 180-day rule, federal courts have permitted plaintiffs to assert equitable tolling, equitable estoppel, or waiver in exceptional circumstances. See Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982); Greene v. Whirlpool Corp., 708 F.2d 128 (4th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1042, 104 S.Ct. 707, 79 L.Ed.2d 171 (1984). Yet, as admitted by plaintiff and his counsel (brief of appellee at 24) and agreed to by the majority in its opinion (pp. 164-65), this is not a case involving the application of the doctrines of equitable tolling, equitable estop-pel, or waiver.1 Rather, they find, based on an “equitable rule,’’ that the 180-day filing period does not begin to run until the plaintiff has discovered the alleged discrimination. As the language of the statute in no way intimates any such discovery rule, I dissent from the majority’s adoption of this “equitable rule.”
The creation of a discovery rule in this case is totally in conflict with the plain wording of the statute that the pay discrimination charge must be filed “within 180 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurred....” Additionally, the acceptance of a discovery rule for pay discrimination claims is patently inconsistent with the established rule applied to discriminatory discharge claims.
In Delaware State College v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980), the United States Supreme Court held that the limitations period commenced to run when the discharge decision was made and the affected party was notified of that decision, not when the party was notified of facts giving rise to a claim.2 Id. at 259, 101 S.Ct. at 506. The majority correctly focuses on notification as the determining factor for commencing the running of the 180 days. Yet, in cases concerning discriminatory discharge, notification of the discharge is the focal point, not notification of the alleged discrimination. See Chardon v. Fernandez, 454 U.S. 6, 102 S.Ct. 28, 70 L.Ed.2d 6 (1981), reh’g denied, 454 U.S. 1166, 102 S.Ct. 1042, 71 L.Ed.2d 322 (1982) (claimants notified on date they received letters stating final decision to terminate their appointments); Delaware *168State College v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980) (limitations period runs from June 26, 1974, date Ricks was notified that he was denied tenure). The majority wishes to alter this rule in matters concerning pay discrimination (his “discovery”) without regard to the date of notification of discharge or payment. This approach directly conflicts with the Ricks-Chardon rule. See Chapman v. Homco Inc., 886 F.2d 756 (5th Cir.1989) (Fifth Circuit refuses to adopt discovery rule in discriminatory discharge cases).
Indicative of this Circuit’s analysis of ADEA claims is Judge Hall’s opinion in Felty v. Graves-Humphreys Co., 785 F.2d 516 (4th Cir.1986). In unambiguous language, this court stated that:
Felty’s attempt on appeal to engraft a knowledge component on the Char-don-Ricks-Price rationale is without merit. A plaintiff’s lack of knowledge of the discriminatory nature of an employment decision and the reasons for that lack of knowledge are relevant to an analysis of equitable tolling but play no , part in determining the beginning of the statutory limitation period.
Id. at 518-19 (emphasis added). As emphasized, this court refused to limit its ruling to only discharge claims; rather, the plaintiff’s knowledge of the defendant’s discriminatory acts is irrelevant in an employment decision. Therefore, in this matter, absent any claim of equitable tolling, the statutory limitations period began to run on April 21, 1986.
As the Supreme Court has adopted the plain meaning of the wording of § 626(d) and not adopted a discovery rule for discharge claims, I see no reason to now adopt a discovery rule for pay claims. On the facts of this case, the distinction between pay and discharge claims is a distinction without a difference. As any unlawful practice of discriminatory pay must have occurred on, or before, April 21, 1986 (the last day of employment), I believe that this is the proper date to commence the running of the 180-day provision. Therefore, I must record my dissent to Part III of the majority opinion. I would dismiss the pay discrimination claim as untimely filed.

. Thus, the majority’s reliance on EEOC v. O’Grady, 857 F.2d 383 (7th Cir.1988), appears misplaced. That case centers on the doctrine of equitable tolling. The court does not purport to create a new "equitable rule" that commences the running of the statutory period from the date of discovery of discriminatory practices.

. Even though the majority, if not all, of the reported cases concerns discharge claims, these cases are instructive of the proper standards to be followed for pay discrimination claims. In pay discrimination matters, the alleged discrimination necessarily must have occurred on, or before, the last day of employment and pay.