RI federal court throws out national origin claim, allows race case to go forward

An employee can’t file a claim for a particular type of discrimination in court if he didn’t specifically identify the type of bias in an administrative complaint before the state agency charged with investigating such claims, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island recently ruled. The employee, a union member, also had attempted to arbitrate his claims, and the employer filed a separate complaint seeking a declaration the dispute wasn’t arbitrable. The district court nevertheless held the race claim could go forward because he didn’t have to raise it in the arbitration dispute.

Facts

After the employer terminated the employee, his union moved to arbitrate the denial of his disability pension. The employer responded with a state court suit seeking a declaration that the dispute wasn’t arbitrable because he was retired and therefore not a member of the bargaining unit. The state court ordered arbitration, reasoning he hadn’t retired and was a bargaining unit member.

Meanwhile, in federal court, the employee filed a separate lawsuit alleging discrimination based on national origin and race under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The employer asked the court to dismiss the complaint because (1) he never alleged national origin discrimination before the state agency that investigates such claims, and (2) all of his discrimination claims were barred because he didn’t allege them in the arbitration case the employer filed in state court.

No ‘box checked,’ so national origin claim fails