What happens when employee dies before his lawsuit is filed

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Maryland and Virginia employers) recently held that under Maryland law, a deceased employee's employment-related claims can be pursued only by the personal representative of his estate. If his personal representative doesn't take action within the required 90 days, however, any purported claims in the employee's name are a "mere nullity" and must be dismissed. Let's take a closer look at the case.

Facts

While working as a general manager at a Baltimore KFC owned by Mitra QSR, Kenneth House informed his supervisor that he was struggling with alcoholism, a qualifying disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and he had been accepted into a 28-day treatment program. House claimed he was assured his job would be waiting for him when he completed treatment, but he returned from rehab only to learn he had been terminated. He filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and was issued a right-to-sue letter on November 14, 2016, which gave him 90 days to file a lawsuit against KFC.

Unfortunately, House died on February 11, 2017, at a treatment facility in California before the lawsuit was filed. Facing the 90-day filing deadline, House's attorney filed suit against KFC on February 13, 2017, asserting the ADA claim in House's name. After the lawsuit was filed, a notice of House's death was filed with the court.