In a decision that seems to defy logic, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can continue to investigate a charge of discrimination, and is entitled to demand extensive company wide information from an employer, even after the agency has issued a right-to-sue letter and the charging party’s subsequent lawsuit is dismissed as meritless by a federal court.
The decision by the Seventh Circuit in EEOC v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., No. 15-3452 (7th Cir. August 15, 2017) reasons that nothing in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act explicitly prevents the EEOC from continuing an investigation once a charge has been filed and that the agency, as the “master of its case,” has the authority to separately ensure that the underlying charge does not implicate company wide discrimination, even if the individual charge is found to be meritless.
NT Lakis had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case on behalf of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), arguing that once the EEOC issues a right-to-sue letter and a court rules the underlying claim to be without merit, as occurred in this case, the agency cedes its authority to continue with a charge investigation.
Members of CWC can read more here.