The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which is establishing a reputation for siding consistently with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in cases where the agency pushes the boundaries of its legal authority, has done so again, despite considerable time and expense incurred by an employer in defending a case that should never have been brought in the first place.
In reversing a federal trial court ruling ordering the EEOC to pay the company $300,000 in attorney’s fees, despite the fact that it had previously held that the EEOC failed to engage in any sort of pre-suit conciliation as required by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act as well as failed to present any viable claim that the company actually discriminated, the Seventh Circuit concluded the agency’s theory in bringing the case was legally sufficient and not frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation – the standard necessary to sustain a fee award.
The Seventh Circuit’s ruling is EEOC v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc., 892 F.3d 307, No. 17-1828, (7th Cir. June 8, 2018).
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.