Failure to double check defeats Texas Labor Code lawsuit

Embarking on another football season, we’re reminded of the “X” and “O” play calling strategy mapped out on a coach’s whiteboard. Here’s a new play to call to defeat a Texas Labor Code lawsuit.

Start with the charge form

Pull out a sample discrimination charge a person files with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It has two slots to allege that the charge should also be filed with the state agency that administers the state law against discrimination—here, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC):

• A line inviting the person to write in the name of the “State or local Agency, if any” that the claim should also be filed with; and
• A box at the bottom of the form inviting the person to place a check mark if, “I want this charge filed with both the EEOC and the State or local Agency, if any.”

Easy-peasy, no?

Fill in the blank/check the box?

Christy Bunker worked for Dow Chemical Company and was disciplined by her employer. She believed the company had violated the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act’s (ADEA) prohibitions against age discrimination and retaliation. But when she filed her EEOC complaint, she didn’t fill in the blank or check the box related to the state agency.

Bunker filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging age discrimination under the Texas Labor Code. (Texas law allows for punitive damages while the ADEA does not, which was likely the reason for her decision.)

Lawsuit dismissed!