United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rockwell International Corp.

922 F. Supp. 118, 5 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 719, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4806
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 10, 1996
DocketNo. 95 C 3824
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 922 F. Supp. 118 (United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rockwell International Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rockwell International Corp., 922 F. Supp. 118, 5 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 719, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4806 (N.D. Ill. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GETTLEMAN, District Judge.

Plaintiff United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) filed its one-count amended complaint alleging that defendants Rockwell International Corp. (“Rockwell”) and Cambridge Industries Inc. failed to hire applicants for employment based on a perceived disability and used employment tests that screened out a class of individuals perceived to have disabilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the “ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Rockwell has filed a motion to dismiss in part the amended complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b), contending that the court lacks jurisdiction over any claim of discrimination other than that which involves Rockwell’s Centralia, Illinois facility.

Exclusion of Documents

Before reaching the merits of Rockwell's motion, Rockwell moves to exclude from the court’s consideration all references to documents attached to plaintiffs response, including: (1) the Declaration of Donald Marvin (an EEOC investigator assigned to the Chicago District Office); (2) selected pages from the 1992-1995 Collective Bargaining Agreement; (3) file notes of Donald Marvin; and (4) the June 9, 1994 Conciliation Letter (the “Conciliation Letter”). Rockwell argues that these documents are not referenced in the amended complaint and thus are not properly considered on a Rule 12(b) motion without converting the motion to a Rule 56 motion for summary judgment. Rockwell further argues that the Conciliation Letter is inadmissible under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b) (“§ 2000e-5(b)”).1

[120]*120Rockwell’s motion is entitled Motion to Dismiss in Part Amended Complaint. Rockwell states that it is brought pursuant to Rule 12(b). Rockwell does not argue in its motion that plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; rather, Rockwell argues that the court does not have proper subject matter jurisdiction over part of plaintiffs claim. Based on the arguments in its motion, and Rockwell’s failure to specify otherwise, the court interprets Rockwell's motion as brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1). Accordingly, the court can consider matters outside the pleadings without treating the motion as one brought pursuant to Rule 56. Ezekiel v. Michel, 66 F.3d 894, 897 (7th Cir.1995) (“The district court may properly look beyond the jurisdictional allegations of the complaint and view whatever evidence has been submitted on the issue to determine whether in fact subject matter jurisdiction exists”).

As to the admissibility of the Conciliation Letter under § 2000e-5(b), the court first considers the statutory bar. In § 2000e-5(b) Congress takes into consideration the privacy rights of the commission and private employers in guarding against the release of speculative discriminatory allegations, investigations, and conciliation proceedings. Under the statute, this bar can be lifted when there is written consent by both parties concerned. In its brief in support of its motion to dismiss Rockwell cites a portion of the Conciliation Letter and attached a letter written to Rockwell’s counsel concerning the proposed conciliation agreement. Further, Rockwell’s claim that this court lacks jurisdiction is in part based on the scope of plaintiffs conciliation efforts. Plaintiff then attached a copy of the Conciliation Letter to its response brief, seeking to have the court determine for itself whether the language in the letter provided Rockwell with sufficient notice of the scope of its conciliatory efforts to support jurisdiction over claims involving Rockwell’s facilities other than Centralia.

This situation is analogous to the rule that prohibits the admission into evidence of anything said during a settlement conference or exchanged in writing between attorneys concerning settlement negotiations. This bar does not apply, however, when the court must decide the issue of whether the parties entered into a binding settlement agreement. See, Mattingly v. City of Chicago, 897 F.Supp. 375 (N.D.Ill.1995) (the defendants moved to enforce a settlement agreement).2 In considering such a motion, the court must consider the oral and written statements of the parties to determine whether the parties entered into a legally binding agreement. Mattingly, 897 F.Supp. at 377.

In the instant case, Rockwell specifically raised the issue of the scope of plaintiffs conciliation efforts in its motion. Further, both parties cited the terms of the Conciliation Letter in their briefs.3 Based on these facts, the court finds that Rockwell has waived the bar in 2000e-5(b), and that the court may consider the written conciliation negotiations between the parties for purposes of Rockwell’s jurisdictional motion.

Jurisdiction Over the Scope of Plaintiffs Claim

In the amended complaint, the EEOC alleges that Rockwell violated the ADA at various of its facilities. Rockwell moves to dismiss allegations of discrimination with respect to facilities other than Rockwell’s Centralia, Illinois, facility, arguing that the EEOC has not satisfied the jurisdictional prerequisites necessary to maintain claims [121]*121against any Rockwell facility other than its Centralia facility. This case arose from twelve individual charges of discrimination filed with the EEOC by applicants who unsuccessfully sought employment at Rockwell’s Centralia facility. Rockwell asserts that because the EEOC did not investigate the possibility of discrimination at Rockwell facilities other than Centralia, there is no basis in law or logic for the EEOC to expand its original investigation and findings regarding Rockwell’s Centralia facility to a lawsuit encompassing all Rockwell facilities.

When read carefully, Equal Employment Opportunity Com’n v. Am. Nat. Bank, 652 F.2d 1176, 1185 (4th Cir.1981), cert. den., 459 U.S. 923, 103 S.Ct. 235, 74 L.Ed.2d 186, a case relied on by Rockwell, is on point and directly contradicts Rockwell’s argument. In Am. Nat. Bank, the EEOC sought to include two branches of the defendant bank in its complaint, although the EEOC determination letter found reasonable cause at only one branch. The district court concluded that the charges relating to the second branch involved “new discrimination” that could not be made part of the suit. The Fourth Circuit reversed, stating that the question was not whether the court had jurisdiction over “new” charges of discrimination brought for the first time by the EEOC in its civil complaint, but whether the court had jurisdiction over the same charges of discrimination against a single defendant, expanded to include the same practices at all its branch offices. 652 F.2d at 1185.

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Bluebook (online)
922 F. Supp. 118, 5 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 719, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-rockwell-ilnd-1996.