Employer Loses the Conciliation Argument

     A federal court recently held that the EEOC's failure to follow its statutory requirement to conciliate before filing a lawsuit is not a defense to the lawsuit.  Title VII states that "if the EEOC finds cause to believe that discrimination occurred, it must first attempt to conciliate the dispute with the employer before it runs to court to file a lawsuit."  This provision is meant to preserve Title VII's overall goal to expeditiously resolve employment discrimination matters without the expense of litigation. 

     In this case, EEOC v. Mach No. 3:11-cv-879 (S.D. Illinois December 20, 2013), the employer argued that the EEOC did not attempt to conciliate the case in good faith, and that since it ran short of resolving the matter outside of filing a suit, it should be barred from being able to file a suit.  However, the court disagreed.  The Seventh Circuit concluded that a court may not question the EEOC’s conciliation efforts, and an employer may not use the EEOC’s failure to conciliate as a defense to a Title VII claim.  This decision can only come to empower the EEOC over the employer in future cases.

If you are the victim of discrimination in the workplace, please contact Ambuter Law for your free case evaluation.