United States Supreme Court Employment Law Cases 

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The City administered a written test to firefighter job applicants in 1995. The City notified applicants of the results at the end of January 1996. Plaintiffs filed an EEOC charge on March 21, 1997 claiming that the test had a disparate impact on black applicants and was not a valid test of firefighting aptitude. The charge was filed more than 400 days after the plaintiffs were notified, but within 300 days of the City's beginning to hire applicants. The trial court ruled that each hiring was a fresh violation of Title VII, so the plaintiffs' suit was timely. 

The 7th Circuit reversed, finding that "discrimination was complete when the tests were scored" and "was discovered when the applicants learned the results." Therefore, the EEOC charge was not filed on time. The 7th Circuit rejected plaintiffs' argument that the City's violation was a "continuing violation," and the argument that the running of the statute of limitations should be tolled under that doctrine of equitable tolling. 

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the 7th Circuit judgment.

Case below: Lewis v. City of Chicago (7th Cir 06/04/2008) 
Official docket sheet 
Certiorari granted September 30, 2009. 
Oral argument:  Not yet scheduled.

Question presented:  

Under Title VII, a plaintiff seeking to bring suit for employment discrimination must first file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC within 300 days after the unlawful employment practice occurred. Where an employer adopts an employment practice that discriminates against African Americans in violation of Title VII’s disparate impact provision, must a plaintiff file an EEOC charge within 300 days after the announcement of the practice, or may a plaintiff file a charge within 300 days after the employer’s use of the discriminatory practice?