DeTata v. Rollprint Packaging Prod., Inc., 10-1596

Dismissal of sex discrimination suit against an employer as untimely reversed

DeTata v. Rollprint Packaging Prod., Inc., 10-1596, concerned a challenge to the district court's dismissal of the suit as untimely in plaintiff's action for sex discrimination against her employer.  In vacating the judgment and remanding the matter, the court held that, under the facts of this case, plaintiff's telephone call to the EEOC to check on the status of her case did not satisfy the notice requirements of 42 U.S.C. section 2000e-5(f)(1).


As the court wrote: "DeTata, in contrast never failed to update her mailing address or to follow her case diligently.  Instead, it was the EEOC's mishandling of DeTata's case that caused the delay, when it misaddressed her right-to-sue letter and lost her file for over a month.  As we have commented before, a "plaintiff should not lose the right to sue because of fortuitous circumstances or events beyond her control which delay receipt of the EEOC's notice.""

Related Link:

• Read the Seventh Circuit's Full Decision in DeTata v. Rollprint Packaging Prod., Inc., 10-1596