Analysis of the EEOC's Issuance of Early Right-to-Sue-Letters: Does it Promote Judicial Efficiency or Encourage Administrative Incompetence
![handle is hein.journals/pnlr150 and id is 703 raw text is: COMMENTS
AN ANALYSIS OF THE EEOC'S ISSUANCE OF EARLY
RIGHT-TO-SUE LETTERS: DOES IT PROMOTE
JUDICIAL EFFICIENCY OR ENCOURAGE
ADMINISTRATIVE INCOMPETENCE?
MICHAEL A. SZKODZINSKIt
INTRODUCTION
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or
Commission) receives nearly 60,000 charges of employment dis-
crimination each year under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or
national origin.2 The grievance process for employees who believe
they have been victims of discrimination is complicated by the dual
nature of these complaints: claims first must be made to the EEOC
before a plaintiff may have his day in court by filing a complaint in the
appropriate United States district court.
t B.A. 1999, Williams College; J.D. Candidate 2002, University of Pennsylvania. I
wish to thankJason M. Abbott for his helpful suggestions in selecting this topic and for
discussions on the merits of some of the arguments for each of the holdings on this
complex issue. I would also like to thank Professors Ralph M. Bradburd, David
Zimmerman, and David Corbett for introducing me to the study of law and economics
at Williams. In addition, I would like to thank the editors of the University of Pennsylva-
nia Law Review for their helpful comments and editing, especially Mike Kaplan, whose
diligence and attention to detail has been exceptional. All remaining errors are mine.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 Charges: FY 1992-FY 2000, at http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/vii.html (last modified
Jan. 18, 2001) [hereinafter EEOC, Title VII Charges].
2 See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) (1994) (It shall be an unlawful employment practice
for an employer ... to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise
to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, condi-
tions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin .... ).
s The process actually is complicated further by another duality of this system. In
mostjurisdictions (save primarily those in the Southeast), the charge first must be filed
with the relevant state agency and available state remedies must be exhausted before
the EEOC takes charge. MACK A. PLAYER, EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION LAW 470-72
(689)](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/pnlr150&div=23&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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