- within Compliance topic(s)
Originally appeared in Labor and Employment Newsletter - February 2002
In its recent decision in Frazier v. Delco Electronics Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that when an alleged victim of harassment brings her complaint to her employer and is led to believe that the situation has been or is in the process of being resolved, the statute of limitations to file a charge of discrimination is tolled.
No Action
Plaintiff Frazier had complained to the company of harassment by a co-worker immediately after the first incident but did not file a charge with the EEOC until over a year later when, after the company had failed to discipline the alleged harasser, the company finally informed Frazier that it would do nothing to prevent her co-worker from contacting her at work. In holding that the statute of limitations was tolled, the Seventh Circuit relied on the general principle that Title VII is not violated until the employer has failed to take reasonable steps to bring a claim of harassment by a co-worker to an end.
Promptness
Joined by Judges Ripple and Bauer, Judge Posner explained that an alleged victim of harassment must move "promptly" to alert the employer of the problem and that the employer must move "promptly" to investigate and resolve the claim. However, the court held that the employer is entitled to take time to investigate a claim of harassment and until that time has passed, an employer’s failure to act would not be actionable. Therefore, the court found that the statute of limitations does not begin to run until it is "clear" that the employer has failed to resolve the claim in a timely manner.
No Guidelines Offered
The court failed to provide any guidelines for determining the promptness of an employee’s complaint and an employer’s investigation of that complaint. Moreover, the court did not define when a resolution of a claim would be timely and at what point and by what action it is "clear" that an employer has failed to resolve the claim in a timely manner.
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