MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Before the court is Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, or Alternatively, For Summary Judgment (doe. 37). Pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), defendant Marvin T. Runyon seeks an order dismissing the complaint of plaintiff for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Alternatively, he seeks, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(b) and D.Kan. Rule 56.1, an order granting summary judgment in his favor on the claims of plaintiff. Plaintiff opposes the motion.
Plaintiff alleges that defendant unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of her sex or gender in violation of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (Pretrial Order, doc. 42, ¶¶ 2-4.) She further alleges that, defendant unlawfully retaliated against her for complaining of such discrimination. (Id. at ¶ 4.) She also alleges that defendant wrongfully discharged her under state law for exercising workers’ compensation rights in 1994. (Id. at ¶¶ 3-4.)
Plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on August 8,1995. She utilized a standardized form, which provides space to identify the person alleged to have taken discriminatory action, the alleged discriminatory action, the date of the alleged discriminatory act, and the corrective action sought by the complainant. Plaintiff reported that a supervisor in charge, Brenda Marts, took discriminatory action against her on March 8, 1995 by refusing all documentation from her doctors subsequent to an assault by Roger O’Neal, her direct supervisor. The form also provides eight boxes which a complainant can mark to identify the type of discrimination alleged. The boxes are labeled: Race, Color, Religion, National Origin, Sex, Age, Retaliation, and Disability. Plaintiff marked only the box labeled “Disability.” The charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC contains no other allegations of discrimination and no allegations of retaliation. (Schroder Dep.Ex. 14, attached to Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss, doc. 38, [hereinafter Mem. in Supp.].)
The court first addresses the motion to the extent it comes under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). That Rule allows defendant to assert, by motion, a defense that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(h)(3) directs that “[wjhenever it appears by sugges *1274 tion of the parties or otherwise that the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter, the court shall dismiss the action.” If the court lacks jurisdiction due to the failure of plaintiff to exhaust her administrative remedies, it must dismiss the Title VII claims.
Defendant suggests that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the Title VII ■ claims, because plaintiff failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. She did not allege retaliation or discrimination based upon sex or gender in her charge to the EEOC. Plaintiff contends that she adequately exhausted her administrative remedies. She claims she did not indicate discrimination or retaliation based upon sex or gender, because she “was in a hurry and was trying to take care of her young children at that time.” She contends, furthermore, that her present claims are reasonably related to the allegations of assault and discrimination in her charge to the EEOC. She argues that defendant had notice of her sex or gender discrimination claim from previous complaints regarding an incident of June 12, 1994 with Roger O’Neal. She claims that those previous complaints provide sufficient notice to satisfy the liberal standards of Title VII.
A plaintiff must exhaust his or her administrative remédies before filing suit under Title VII.
Jones v. Runyon,
In this instance plaintiff has not exhausted administrative remedies related to the Title VII claims asserted in her civil complaint. The charge lodged with the EEOC provides no notice that she alleges retaliation or discrimination based upon sex or gender. “Although the Court must construe the EEOC charge liberally in order to effectuate the remedial purpose of Title VII, the crucial inquiry is whether the claims set forth in the civil complaint fall within the scope of the investigation that could reasonably be expected to grow out of the EEOC charges.” Id. The charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC does not fairly encompass a claim for retaliation or discrimination based upon sex or gender. The scope of the investigation that one would reasonably expect to arise from that charge would not encompass the allegations of disability in her civil complaint here.
The administrative process afforded plaintiff ample opportunity to make the necessary . allegations. The charge submitted to the EEOC contains boxes in which a complainant may indicate the type of discrimination alleged. Despite the existence of boxes labeled “Retaliation” and “Sex,” plaintiff marked only the box labeled “Disability.” She provides nothing in the body of the charge to indicate either retaliation or discrimination based upon sex or gender. *1275 Rather, the charge merely contains facts relating to an alleged incident of March 8,1995, in which Brenda Marts allegedly refused medical documentation from plaintiff. Nothing suggests that defendant treated her differently because she is female. Nothing suggests a claim of retaliation. The charge does not fairly encompass a claim for retaliation or discrimination based upon sex or gender merely because Roger O’Neal is a man and the plaintiff a woman. That plaintiff had previously complained of actions of Mr. O’Neal provides insufficient notice to defendant and the EEOC that the current charge encompasses the previous informal ' complaints. Defendant stopped processing the informal complaints, when plaintiff failed to formally pursue them. (Decl. of Donna M. Goza, attached to Mem. in Supp.)
The actual investigation which arose from the charge filed with the EEOC, furthermore, did not encompass the allegations made in the civil complaint. Sandra Boykins (formerly Sandra Williams), Senior EEO Complaints Processing Specialist of the United States Postal Service, informed plaintiff by letter that the EEOC had accepted her charge of discrimination for investigation. (Decl. of Sandra Boykins, ¶¶ 1-3, attached to Mem. in Supp.) Ms. Boykins identified the issue to be investigated as whether “Management failed to accept medical documentation submitted by complainant.” (Letter from Williams to Schroder of 2/20/96, attached as Ex. A to Decl. of Boykins.) She identified the type of discrimination as “Disability (not specified).” (Id.) She informed plaintiff that, if she disagreed with the defined issue, then she must provide written objections within seven calendar days. (Id.) Ms. Boykins did not consider the charge of discrimination to be based upon retaliation or discrimination due to the sex or gender of plaintiff. (Decl. of Sandra Boykins, ¶ 8.) Her office has received no objections regarding the defined issue from plaintiff. (Id. at ¶ 7.)
The EEOC properly restricted the scope of its investigation to the facts and claims contained in the formal charge of discrimination. One cannot expect the EEOC to investigate a charge of retaliation or discrimination based upon sex or gender, when one only alleges discrimination based upon disability.
See Antol,
The court also finds that the retaliation alleged in the civil complaint does not reasonably relate to the formal charge of disability discrimination. Plaintiff alleges retaliation for engaging in protected activity prior to her formal charge of discrimination. When “a retaliatory act occurs prior to the filing of a charge and the employee fails to allege the retaliatory act or a retaliation claim in the subsequent charge, the retaliatory act ordinarily will not reasonably relate to the
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charge.”
Seymore v. Shawver & Sons, Inc.,
The expected scope of the investigation resulting from the filed charge of discrimination would be limited to the alleged disability discrimination. Neither defendant nor the EEOC were put on notice of a claim for retaliation or sex or gender discrimination. Plaintiff thus failed to exhaust administrative remedies for her retaliation and discrimination claims based upon sex or gender. Failing to raise a particular discrimination claim before the EEOC precludes a plaintiff from raising that claim in federal court.
McCoin v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, No.
96-4104-SAC,
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently expressed uncertainty as to whether the failure to comply with administrative prerequisites is a jurisdictional bar to filing a discrimination claim in federal court, or whether the failure merely operates as an affirmative defense, which is subject to waiver, estoppel, and equitable tolling.
See Blackwell v. Runyon,
This court also finds that, on the facts before it, whether exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional bar or merely operates as an affirmative defense has no bearing on the ultimate conclusion of the court. Under either view, the court must dismiss the Title VII claims of plaintiff for her failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Such failure precludes her from bringing suit in federal court, regardless of whether exhaustion is a jurisdictional prerequisite or simply an affirmative defense, which is subject to waiver, estoppel, and equitable tolling. Were the court to consider exhaustion to be no more than an affirmative defense, it would dismiss the Title VII claims of plaintiff. Defendant timely asserted in its Answer (doc. 21) that plaintiff failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. It preserved the defense in the Pretrial Order (doc. 42). Neither estoppel nor equitable tolling, furthermore, appear applicable to save the Title VII claims.
In this case the court also finds exhaustion of administrative remedies to be jurisdictional in nature. The court has a duty to determine its jurisdiction over a particular case. Absent jurisdiction of the subject matter, the court has no authority or power to act on it. After reviewing precedents from the United States Supreme Court, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the District of Kansas, the court concludes that the failure of plaintiff here to exhaust administrative remedies deprives the court of jurisdiction over the subject matter of her Title VII claims.
The uncertainty noted by
Jones
and
Blackwell
stems from the United States Supreme Court decision of
Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc.,
In
Mosley v. Pena,
Million
specifically states that “[cjompliance with the filing requirements of Title VII is not a jurisdictional prerequisite, rather it is a condition precedent to suit that functions like a statute of limitations and is subject to waiver, estoppel, and equitable tolling.”
Cases in the District of Kansas have also discussed these issues. A recent decision, relying upon
Million,
appears to indicate that exhaustion of administrative remedies is not jurisdictional.
Robben v. Runyon,
No. 96-1154-JTM,
Other district court decisions have indicated that exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit under Title VII.
Martin v. State,
Some district court cases have distinguished between actions brought against federal employers and those brought against private employers, whether or not timeliness was at issue.
Olds v. Alamo Group (KS), Inc.,
In summary, precedent of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals exists for finding exhaustion of administrative remedies jurisdictional in nature.
E.g., Woodman,
Zipes held only that the timeliness requirement for administration charges is, like a statute of limitations, subject to such equitable exceptions as waiver, estoppel, and tolling. That holding does not undercut this court’s exhaustion rule — adhered to before and after Zipes —that the administrative process must still be pursued before jurisdiction in federal court can be invoked.
Hawkins v. Defense Logistics Agency of the Dep’t of Defense, United States,
The court has found nothing to support a conclusion that the failure of plaintiff here to exhaust her administrative remedies is in the nature of a statute of limitations, rather than jurisdictional. The issue is whether the filed charge of discrimination adequately apprised the EEOC and defendant of the charges against defendant. The court has found that the filed charge failed in that respect. The issue is not one of timeliness, but of adequacy and completeness. When a complainant files a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, but asserts different claims of discrimination in his or her civil complaint, the court views
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the additional claims as never being properly presented to the EEOC; unless the alleged conduct in the civil complaint would fall within the scope of the EEOC investigation reasonably proceeding from the charges filed with the EEOC. “Federal courts lack jurisdiction to entertain Title VII claims not first filed with the EEOC.”
Craft v. Yellow Freight Sys., Inc.,
The general rule in the Tenth Circuit appears to be that exhaustion of administrative remedies is jurisdictional. Accordingly, the court dismisses the Title VII claims of plaintiff without prejudice. A dismissal on jurisdictional grounds is not a dismissal on the merits and should ordinarily be without prejudice.
Parkhurst v. Uphoff,
The court next addresses the fate of the state law claim of retaliation. Citing
Brown v. General Services Administration,
Relying upon
Brock v. United States,
For the foregoing reasons, the court sustains Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, or Alternatively, For Summary Judgment (doc. 37). It dismisses the Title VII claims of plaintiff without prejudice and the state law claim of retaliation with prejudice. It directs the Clerk of the Court to enter judgment for defendant.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
