The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a writ of certiorari in an appeal of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision finding that an alleged failure to conciliate is not an affirmative defense to the merits of a discrimination case (Mach Mining, LLC v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
In 2008, the EEOC received a charge of discrimination from a woman alleging that Mach Mining, LLC denied her a job because of her sex. After investigating the charge, the EEOC notified Mach Mining, LLC in 2010 of its intention to start the informal conciliation process. In 2011, the EEOC had determined that the conciliation process had been unsuccessful, and informed the company of such. The EEOC then filed a suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Mach Mining filed its answer and asserted several affirmative defenses, including that the EEOC had failed to conciliate in good faith. The EEOC moved for summary judgment solely on the issue of whether, as a matter of law, an alleged failure to conciliate is an affirmative defense to its suit for unlawful discrimination. The District Court denied the EEOC's motion. The District Court held that the court should evaluate conciliation to
the extent needed to “determine whether the EEOC made a sincere and
reasonable effort to negotiate.”
In December 2013, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the District Court's decision. The court's opinion read:
"The essence of an affirmative defense is that it assumes the plaintiff
can prove its factual allegations. An affirmative defense raises
additional facts or legal arguments that defeat liability nonetheless. .
. . The wrong claimed by defendant here is purely one of insufficient
process. A procedural remedy, such as a short stay to allow the parties
to pursue conciliation further, would be tailored to the alleged wrong.
Dismissal on the merits, however, would excuse the employer’s (assumed)
unlawful discrimination. That would be too final and drastic a remedy
for any procedural deficiency in conciliation,” Judge David F. Hamilton
wrote for the panel.
On February 25, 2014, Mach Mining, LLC petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 30, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the case. Arguments for the case will be scheduled to begin in the Fall of 2014.
If you have a question regarding your rights in the workplace, please contact Ambuter Law for your free case evaluation.
