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<b><i>Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC:</i></b> The Supreme Court Approves Limited Review of EEOC's Conciliation Efforts

By Marcia Goodman and Miriam Nemetz
September 02, 2015

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to try to conciliate claims that an employer has engaged in an unlawful employment practice before the EEOC files suit. Last April, in Mach Mining, LLC v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 135 S. Ct. 1645 (2015), the Supreme Court held that the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the EEOC may raise the agency's failure to engage in conciliation as a defense. It reversed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which had held ' contradicting other circuits ' that the EEOC's conduct of the conciliation process is not judicially reviewable.

The Supreme Court made clear, however, that the standard under which courts may review the EEOC's conciliation efforts is very deferential. It cautioned that courts should not probe the EEOC's methods or the substance of its positions, but should determine only whether the agency notified the defendant of the alleged violation and attempted conciliation. It also stated that the appropriate remedy for a failure to conciliate is a stay of litigation, not dismissal of the action. Thus, although the prospect of judicial review may help ensure that the EEOC comes to the table to negotiate before filing suit, the failure of conciliation is unlikely in the future to provide a meaningful defense in litigation except in very narrow circumstances.

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