NEW YORK GASLIGHT CLUB, INC., ET AL. v. CAREY
No. 79-192
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 19, 1980—Decided June 9, 1980
447 U.S. 54
James I. Meyerson argued the cause and filed a brief for respondent.
Harriet S. Shapiro argued the cause for the United States et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance. With her on the brief were Solicitor General McCree, Assistant Attorney General Days, Leroy D. Clark, Joseph T. Eddins, and Lutz Alexander Prager.*
MR. JUSTICE BLACKMUN delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case presents the question whether, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal court may allow the prevailing party attorney‘s fees for legal services performed in prosecuting an employment discrimination claim in state administrative and judicial proceedings that Title VII requires federal claimants to invoke.
I
Respondent Cidni Carey, in August 1974, applied for work as a cocktail waitress with petitioner New York Gaslight Club, Inc. After an interview, she was advised that no position was available.
The following January, respondent filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging that petitioners, the Club and its manager, had denied her a position because of her race. App. to Brief for Respondent a1-a3. As required by
*Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed by Robert Abrams, Attorney General, pro se, Shirley Adelson Siegel, Solicitor General, Judith T. Kramer, Arnold Fleischer, and Barbara Levy, Assistant Attorneys General, and Ann Thacher Anderson for the New York State Attorney General et al.; by Jack Greenberg, James M. Nabrit III, Charles Stephen Ralston, and Bill Lann Lee for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.; and by Charles C. Parlin, Jr., and Peter Bienstock for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc.
In May 1975, after an investigation during which respondent was represented by counsel,1 the Division found probable cause to believe that petitioners had engaged in an unlawful discriminatory practice. Efforts at conciliation failed, and the Division, pursuant to
Counsel for respondent wrote to the EEOC on May 20, advising the Commission that respondent was proceeding in the Division. He asked that the Commission “reassume” jurisdiction over the claim so that, if necessary, respondent could obtain a right-to-sue letter at an appropriate time. On May 22, the EEOC responded, stating that an investigator would be assigned to respondent‘s matter as soon as possible.
The state administrative hearing was held on two separate days in late 1975 and early 1976. Both respondent and petitioners were represented by counsel. App. 68. No attorney for the State appeared. On August 13, 1976, the hearing examiner found that petitioners had discriminated against respondent because she is black. Id., at 70. Petitioners were ordered to offer respondent employment as a cocktail waitress and to pay her back wages from August 1974. Id., at 70-72. No attorney‘s fee was awarded.
Petitioners appealed to the New York State Human Rights Appeal Board, an agency established to hear appeals from orders of the Division.
On August 26, the Appeal Board confirmed the Division‘s order. Petitioners immediately appealed the Board‘s decision to the New York Supreme Court. The Division cross-petitioned for enforcement of its order.
On September 30, respondent filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, asserting claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1866,
The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court on November 3 unanimously affirmed the Appeal Board‘s determination. New York Gaslight Club, Inc. v. New York State Human Rights Appeal Board, 59 App. Div. 2d 852, 399 N. Y. S. 2d 158 (1977). Petitioners unsuccessfully moved for reargument, and then filed a motion with the New York Court of Appeals for leave to appeal.
The parties thereafter apparently agreed that the federal action could be dismissed, except for respondent‘s request for attorney‘s fees. See App. 75-79. Respondent sought an award for 82 hours of attorney‘s time. Of that total, 9 hours were spent in preparing and filing the EEOC charge and the federal suit, 22 hours were spent in preparing and presenting the case before the hearing examiner, 29 hours were spent in defending the Division‘s order before the Appeal Board and the state courts, and 22 hours were spent seeking the fee award. App. to Pet. for Cert. A39-A40.
In July 1978, the District Court dismissed respondent‘s complaint, App. 35, but left pending the application for attorney‘s fees. After further briefing, the court denied the fee request. 458 F. Supp. 79 (SDNY 1978).
The District Court found the propriety of the EEOC‘S issuance of a right-to-sue letter while state proceedings were pending “very doubtful.” Id., at 80. Although the EEOC‘s action had given respondent no choice but to preserve her rights by filing a complaint in federal court, the District Court ruled that the mere filing of a federal suit does not entitle an aggrieved party to attorney‘s fees. The court reasoned that the fortuity of a need to file a protective federal suit should not make the defendants responsible for the costs of representing the plaintiff in the state forums. Id., at 81.
The District Court also relied on its conclusion that respondent “had the option of pursuing her state administrative remedies without incurring any expenses at all for legal services,” since state law,
A divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed. 598 F. 2d 1253 (1979). The court ruled: “A complaining party who is successful in state administrative proceedings after having her complaint under Title VII referred to a state agency in accordance with the statutory scheme of that Title is entitled to recover attorney‘s fees in the same manner as a party who prevails in federal court.” Id., at 1260. The court relied on several factors in reaching its decision. Among them were the significant role of state human rights agencies in the Title VII enforcement scheme; the statute‘s strong preference for administrative resolution of a discrimination complaint; the importance of providing an incentive for complete development of the administrative record; the language of the statute‘s fee provision; and the desirability of encouraging a complainant to retain private counsel notwithstanding participation of a Division attorney at certain points during the state proceedings.
We granted certiorari, 444 U. S. 897 (1979), to consider this question that is significant to the enforcement of the antidiscrimination provisions of Title VII.
II
Section 706 (k) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 261,
“In any action or proceeding under this title the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the Commission or the United States, a reasonable attorney‘s fee as part of the costs.”
The words of
It might be argued that the words “or proceeding” authorize fee awards only for work done in federal administrative proceedings,2 such as those before the EEOC, but not for
Section 706 (k) authorizes a fee award to the prevailing party in “any . . . proceeding under this title.” (Emphasis added.) The same Title creates the system of deferral to state and local remedies. The statute uses the word “proceeding” to describe the state and local remedies to which complainants are required to resort. For example,
“[N]o charge may be filed . . . before the expiration of sixty days after proceedings have been commenced under the State or local law, unless such proceedings have been earlier terminated. . . . If any requirement for the commencement of such proceedings is imposed by a State or local authority other than a requirement of the filing of a written and signed statement of the facts upon which the proceeding is based, the proceeding shall be deemed to have been commenced for the purposes of this subsection at the time such statement is sent. . . .” (Emphasis added).
Indeed, throughout Title VII the word “proceeding,” or its plural form, is used to refer to all the different types of proceedings in which the statute is enforced, state and federal,
as a condition to filing an action in federal court. E. g., Brown v. Bathke, 588 F. 2d 634, 638 (CA8 1978); Fischer v. Adams, 572 F. 2d 406 (CA1 1978); Parker v. Califano, 182 U. S. App. D. C. 322, 561 F. 2d 320 (1977); Foster v. Boorstin, 182 U. S. App. D. C. 342, 561 F. 2d 340 (1977); Johnson v. United States, 554 F. 2d 632 (CA4 1977).
This Court recently examined the legislative history and purpose of
Title VII establishes a comprehensive enforcement scheme in which state agencies are given “a limited opportunity to resolve problems of employment discrimination and thereby to make unnecessary, resort to federal relief by victims of the discrimination.” Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans, 441 U. S. 750, 755 (1979). Congress envisioned that Title VII‘s procedures and remedies would “mes[h] nicely, logically, and coherently with the State and city legislation,” and that remedying em-
Pursuant to this policy of cooperation, Title VII provides that where the unlawful employment practice is alleged to have occurred in a State or locality which has a law prohibiting the practice and in which an agency has been established to enforce that law, “no charge may be filed [with the EEOC] by the person aggrieved before the expiration of sixty days after proceedings have been commenced under the State or local law, unless such proceedings have been earlier terminated.”
Of course, the “ultimate authority” to secure compliance with Title VII resides in the federal courts. Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U. S. 36, 44-45 (1974). The statute
It is clear from this scheme of interrelated and complementary state and federal enforcement that Congress viewed proceedings before the EEOC and in federal court as supplements to available state remedies for employment discrimination. Initial resort to state and local remedies is mandated, and recourse to the federal forums is appropriate only when the State does not provide prompt or complete relief. See Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U. S., at 48-50.
The construction of
The District Court felt that granting a fee award to respondent would be a “windfall” based on the unforeseeable fortuity that filing a protective federal suit became necessary. 458 F. Supp., at 81. We agree with the District Court that the
III
Against the strong considerations favoring an award of fees, petitioners make three arguments. First, they contend that awarding fees for work done in state proceedings for
We must reject petitioners’ Tenth Amendment argument. Congress’ power under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment is broad, and overrides any interest the State might have in not authorizing awards for fees in connection with state proceedings. See Hutto v. Finney, 437 U. S. 678 (1978); Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 427 U. S. 445 (1976).
Petitioners cite Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U. S. 132 (1963), Schwartz v. Texas, 344 U. S. 199 (1952), and Florida v. United States, 282 U. S. 194 (1931), in support of their argument that Congress’ intent to pre-empt state regulation of the administration of state proceedings is not clearly expressed in
We also find no merit in petitioners’ suggestion that denial of a fee award was within the District Court‘s discretion. As noted earlier, the court‘s discretion to deny a fee award to a prevailing plaintiff is narrow. Absent “special circumstances,” see Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, 390 U. S., at 402; Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U. S., at 416-417, fees should be awarded. Petitioners argue that the availability of a Division attorney to present the “case in support of the complaint” is a “special circumstance” which should deprive a prevailing complainant of a fee award. Clearly, however, an attorney is needed to assist the complainant during the state proceedings, and the Division employee does not take the place of private counsel.
The New York state procedure, to which respondent‘s charge was referred, provides for adversary quasi-judicial hearings leading to findings of fact, administrative appeals, and judicial review. The first stage of the state administrative action is the investigation; this results in either a finding of probable cause or a dismissal of the complaint.
Following the investigation, the Division attempts to conciliate the complainant‘s grievance with the employer.
If efforts at conciliation fail and a hearing is scheduled, state law provides:
“The case in support of the complaint shall be presented by one of the attorneys or agents of the division and, at the option of the complainant, by his attorney. With the consent of the division, the case in support of the complainant may be presented solely by his attorney.”
§ 297 (4)(a) (McKinney Supp. 1979) .
At the time of the hearing on respondent‘s complaint, however, the practice of the Division was to involve one of its attorneys only if the complainant was not represented by private counsel. Brief for New York State Attorney General and New York State Division of Human Rights as Amici Curiae 5.8 Complainants were “encouraged” to obtain private counsel due to a growing caseload and staff limitations. App. to Pet. for Cert. A58-A59.
At the appellate level, the Division attorney appears only to support and seek enforcement of orders issued by the Division and the Appeal Board.
It is thus obvious that the assistance provided a complainant by the Division attorney is not fully adequate, and that the attorney has no obligation to the complainant as a client. In fact, at times the position of the Division may be detrimental to the interests of the complainant and to enforcement of federal rights. Representation by a private attorney thus assures development of a complete factual record at the investigative stage and at the administrative hearing. At both, settlement is possible and is encouraged. A Division employee cannot act as the complainant‘s attorney for purposes of advising him whether to accept a settlement. Retention of private counsel will help assure that federal rights are not compromised in the conciliation process.
If a Division attorney appears at the public hearing, he does not represent the interests of the complainant, but rather those of the State. Id., at 5; App. to Pet. for Cert. A59-A60. He presents the “case in support of the complaint,” not in support of the complainant.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is therefore affirmed.
It is so ordered.
THE CHIEF JUSTICE joins the Court‘s opinion except footnote 6 thereof; in his view, resolution of the issue dealt with in that footnote is not necessary.
MR. JUSTICE WHITE and MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST would reverse the judgment essentially for the reasons given by Judge Mulligan in dissenting from the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
MR. JUSTICE STEVENS, concurring in the judgment.
While I agree with most of what is said in the Court‘s opinion, it is useful to emphasize that this federal litigation was commenced in order to obtain relief for respondent on the merits of her basic dispute with petitioners, and not simply to recover attorney‘s fees. Whether Congress intended to authorize a separate federal action solely to recover costs, including attorney‘s fees, incurred in obtaining administrative relief in either a deferral or a nondeferral State is not only doubtful but is a question that is plainly not presented by this record.
(CA2 1976). Congress endorsed such decisions allowing fees to public interest groups when it was considering, and passed, the Civil Rights Attorney‘s Fees Awards Act of 1976, 90 Stat. 2641, 42 U. S. C. § 1988, which is legislation similar in purpose and design to Title VII‘s fee provision. See H. R. Rep. No. 94-1558, pp. 5 and 8, n. 16 (1976).
A quite different question would be presented if, before any federal litigation were commenced, an aggrieved party had obtained complete relief in the administrative proceedings. It is by no means clear that the statute, which merely empowers a “court” to award fees, would authorize a fee allowance when there is no need for litigation in the federal court to resolve the merits of the underlying dispute. Indeed, it is not even clear that the EEOC has the authority to issue a “right to sue” letter, empowering the complainant to bring suit in federal court, after the complainant has obtained complete relief on the merits of his claim in administrative proceedings. See
*That section provides in part:
“In any action or proceeding under this title the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party . . . a reasonable attorney‘s fee as part of the costs. . . .”
Accordingly, I concur in the judgment.