CROSSLIN ET VIR
v.
MOUNTAIN STATES TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CO.

U.S. | 1971-01-18
No. 326
400 U.S. 1004 Supreme Court of the United States (1971) Positive Treatment
Cited by 14 cases
Topics
Administrative Interpretation Deference Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Employment Discrimination Exhaustion Of Administrative Remedies

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Dissent
Mr. Justice Douglas,

Mr. Justice Douglas,

dissenting.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 253, 42 U. S. C. § 2000e ét seq., establishes methods of securing relief for individuals complaining of discrimination in employment. An individual may bring court action to enforce his rights under Title VII only after he has filed a timely charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Section 706 (b), 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-5 (b), of the Act provides no charge may be filed with the EEOC until 60 days after the commencement of proceedings (unless they are terminated earlier) before a state ór local agency, if one exists, which has power “to grant or seek relief” or to “institute criminal proceedings” with respect to the complaint. The EEOC has interpreted § 706 (b) as requiring initial submission of the complaint to state agencies only where the agency can provide adequate relief. At present Arizona and six other States* have agencies with remedial powers which the EEOC finds inadequate.

This case arose in Arizona. Petitioners brought a complaint of racial discrimination in employment to the EEOC without first going to the Arizona Civil Rights Commission. The EEOC found there was reasonable cause to believe the charge was true and sent a statutory Notice-of-Right-To-Sue-Within-Thirty-Days and the action was timely filed. The Court of-Appeals held that the District Court should have dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction because the Arizona Civil Rights Commission should have been given the initial opportunity to consider the complaint. The court found that a st(ate agency empowered “to grant and seek relief” included an agency that could only attempt to settle the dispute by conciliation and persuasion.

The proper functioning of the various Civil Rights Acts is of critical importance. This Court has recently re-emphasized the importance of deference to an administrative interpretation by the agency charged with the initial interpretation of a new law. United States v. City of Chicago, ante, p. 8; Udall v. Tallman, 380 U. S. 1, 16. The court below rejected the administrative interpretation of § 706 (b). In so doing it requires pursuing a state remedy classified as inadequate by the EEOC.

The various Civil Rights Acts represent a national commitment to achieve an end to racial discrimination. Forcing an alleged victim of racial discrimination — usually an indigent — first to seek a state remedy prior to vindication of his federal rights when that - state remedy is palpably inadequate presents an issue of considerable importance. See Glover v. St. Louis-San Francisco R. Co., 393 U. S. 324. I would grant certiorari to decide the question presented in this case.

*

Idaho, Maine, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Vermont.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By (14 total)

  • Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans, 441 U.S. 750 (U.S. 1979)
    …Love v. Pullman Co., supra, at 526-527 (charge may be held in suspended animation during deferral period). For this reason, suspension pending deferral is the preferred practice in the federal courts. See Crosslin v. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co., 400 U. S. 1004 (1971) (judgment of dismissal for want of jurisdiction arising from failure to defer vacated; case remanded for consideration of stay pending deferral); Gabriele v. Chrysler Corp., 573 F. 2d 949, 956 n. 18 (CA6 1978); Oubichon v. North American Rock…
  • Oubichon v. N. Am. Rockwell Corp., 482 F.2d 569 (9th Cir. 1973)
    …out the administrative prerequisites to suit and in specifying the implications of pursuit of administrative remedies on the right to judicial relief. See, e. g., Crosslin v. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co., 422 F. 2d 1028 (9th Cir. 1970), vacated, 400 U.S. 1004, 91 S.Ct. 562, 27 L.Ed.2d 618 (1971). The inference is strong that Congress did not intend to deny Title VII relief to employees who availed themselves of contractual remedies before coming to the courts. Cf. Voutsis v. Union Carbide Corp., 452 F. 2…
  • Bethel v. Burtell M. Jefferson, 589 F.2d 631 (D.C. Cir. 1978)
    …v. Hook, 563 F. 2d 1369, 1375 (9th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 904, 98 S.Ct. 2234, 56 L.Ed.2d 402 (1978). . See Zambuto v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 544 F. 2d 1333, 1336 (5th Cir. 1977). See also Crosslin v. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co., 400 U.S. 1004, 91 S.Ct. 562, 27 L.Ed.2d 618 (1971); Mitchell v. Mid-Continent Spring Co., 466 F. 2d 24, 26-27 (6th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 410 U.S. 928, 93 S.Ct. 1363, 35 L.Ed.2d 589 (1973); Parker v. General Tel. Co., 476 F. 2d 595, 596 (9th Cir. 1973). . Cha…

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