The EEOC retains its authority to investigate a charge even after it issues a right-to-sue letter and the charging party sues, the Second Circuit held August 25 in EEOC v. AAM Holding Corp.
In this case, an employee received a right-to-sue letter and filed a separate suit while her employers were appealing a district court order upholding an EEOC subpoena. The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s enforcement of the EEOC’s subpoena, stating that the EEOC’s investigative authority extends beyond the right-to-sue letter. The Second Circuit noted that Title VII compels the EEOC to complete its investigation within 120 days only “so far as practicable,” which “is not a hard stop.”
This decision deepens a circuit split. The Fifth Circuit held in 1997 that the EEOC’s investigative authority ends once a lawsuit is filed because Title VII’s multistep enforcement procedure divides EEOC’s process into distinct stages. The Ninth and Seventh Circuits held in 2009 and 2017, respectively, that the EEOC retains its investigative authority. With this decision, the Second Circuit joined the Seventh and Ninth Circuit camp.
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