Cal. Supremes Hold That FEHA Statute Of Limitations Tolled By Pursuit Of Internal Remedies

        In McDonald v. Antelope Valley Community College Dist., ___ Cal.4th __ (No. S153964, Oct. 27, 2008) the Court found that the voluntary pursuit of internal remedies tolls the statute of limitations in a FEHA action.

                More after the jump

        A plaintiff that wishes to pursue a FEHA claim must file an administrative complaint with the DFEH within one year of the alleged discrimination. (Government Code §12960). The employee can then wait for the DFEH to conduct its investigation or he or she can request a right to sue letter. Once the employee has a right to sue letter he or she has one year to file a civil action with the court.

        In McDonald, Sylvia Brown, an African-American, was passed over for a promotion at Antelope Valley Community College District in October 1999. She believed she was passed over for this promotion because of her race. In June 2000, the position once again became available. Brown again applied and was interviewed for the position in January 2001. Again she was not selected for the promotion.

        Following the second denial of this promotion Brown filed an internal complaint with the Chancellor’s office in October 2001. An outside firm was hired to investigate the claim. On January 30,2002, Brown was told that the firm found no discrimination. Brown appealed this ruling to the District’s board of trustees on February 2002.

        While her appeal was pending, Brown filed a complaint with the DFEH on October 11, 2002. She received a right to sue letter on October 24, 2002 and filed her civil complaint on October 24, 2003.

        The school district moved for summary judgment alleging that Brown had violated the statute of limitations since more than one year had passed between the last alleged discriminatory action (January 2001) and her complaint to the DFEH (October 11, 2002).

        The Supreme Court denied the district’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the pursuit of an internal remedy tolled the statute of limitations. The Court reiterated a previous find that to toll a statue of limitations, three factors must be met: timely notice to the defendant; lack of prejudice to the defendant; and reasonable and good faith conduct on the part of the plaintiff. Addison v. State of California (1978) 21 Cal.3d 313, 318.)

        The Court found that in this situation where Brown pursued internal remedies these conditions were met and that a FEHA statute of limitation can be tolled. The Court in this case does a very good job of walking through a variety of cases that discuss different ways a statute of limitations can be tolled (e.g. pursuit of a labor grievance, pursuit in federal court, filling a complaint with the EEOC)

            --Michael Sachs

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