How Much Investigation Is Enough?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. An employee who believes he or she has been discriminated against in violation of Title VII may bring a charge of discrimination against his or her employer before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the EEOC). Before the EEOC may commence a Title VII enforcement action against the employer, it must provide a notice of the charge to the employer, investigate the alleged charge, make a determination that there is reasonable cause to believe a violation of Title VII has occurred, provide notice of such determination to the employer, and make a good-faith conciliation effort. In order to ensure the EEOC's compliance with Title VII, Congress empowered the federal courts to review the EEOC's fulfillment of these pre-suit requirements. However, Title VII does not provide guidance regarding the scope or extent of the steps the EEOC must take to satisfy these administrative obligations. Employers have frequently questioned the adequacy of the EEOC's pre-suit investigations. To their consternation, in September 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in EEOC v. Sterling Jewelers, Inc. that courts do not have authority to review the extent or sufficiency of the EEOC's investigation of charges. Indeed, the Second Circuit ruled that, to satisfy its statutory obligation, the EEOC need only demonstrate that it conducted an investigation pertinent to the allegations ultimately included in the complaint prior to moving forward with an enforcement action under Title VII.