Court Opinion

ID: 9477249
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:18:20.252935+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:46.576378
License: Public Domain

KEITH, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I concur in Judge Milbum’s thoughtful dissenting opinion, and write separately only to stress two points of particular concern. First, even if one were to concede that the doctrine of laches could be applied in such a situation, it is inconceivable to me that any court could conclude that the behavior of this defendant would not preclude the exercise of the court’s equitable power on its behalf. When, as in the present case, the prevailing party on appeal destroys relevant records despite having received notice of a pending claim, and baldly refuses to comply with an EEOC subpoena while citing spurious grounds for its refusal, it is not only unjustifiable but unconscionable for a court to aid the party’s contempt for the administrative process through the granting of equitable relief.
Furthermore, it strikes me as ironic that plaintiff is being penalized for fully exhausting its administrative remedies — pursuant to a complex and comprehensive statutory scheme — rather than resorting to the courts for relief, while this Court, as well as the courts of most other jurisdictions, have been consistently unsympathetic to plaintiffs who seek judicial relief prior to exhaustion even as a reaction to demonstrably lengthy and time-consuming administrative procedures. Indeed, the requirement that one exhaust all administrative remedies has been intoned with such frequency, despite the hardship for plaintiffs which can result, as to have become liturgically axiomatic. Although I am not so naive as to anticipate that this will be the case, I would hope that the delay that the exhaustion requirement creates in some cases would be recognized as prejudicial to future plaintiffs as well as defendants, and *1163that the majority might someday view the shield it provides today as a sword as well.