Second Victory to EEOC in Sex Discrimination Case

In a second victory for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected Cintas Corporation's petition to reconsider its earlier ruling that the EEOC was wrongly denied permission to litigate a lawsuit alleging Cintas engaged in hiring discrimination against a class of women in Michigan. The court's one-page order, issued Jan. 15, 2013, indicated that no judge had requested a vote on Cintas' suggestion for full court review. The case will now return to the district court for further proceedings.

With the order, the Sixth Circuit has now made final its ruling of November 9, 2012, in which the Court overturned the district court's dismissal of the EEOC's lawsuit against Cintas, reversed significant procedural rulings, ordered the district court to reconsider whether EEOC should be allowed to depose Cintas CEO Scott Farmer, and found "no basis" for the district court's ordering EEOC to pay Cintas $2.6 million in attorney fees.

"The court of appeals has confirmed EEOC's ability to use all the tools Congress provided in Title VII when EEOC challenges a pattern or practice of discrimination," said EEOC General Counsel David Lopez. He added that the Sixth Circuit's rulings, coupled with Friday's decision in EEOC v. United Parcel Service, where the district court for the Northern District of Illinois reversed its own ruling barring the EEOC from filing a class complaint without complete information on all possible bias victims, are a "tremendous victory for the EEOC's systemic litigation program."

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Source: EEOC

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.